The Secret of the Unicorn
by chibimaker
Summary: With the arrival of a new neighbor in his building, so comes the arrival of a new adventure in Tintin's life. After finding an unusual ship model that gathers an unusual amount of attention, Tintin works to investigate the mystery of the Unicorn ship and the Haddock family. Tintin/OC takes place during movie. Reboot of "Adventures of Tintin and Juliet" story. Hope you enjoy!
1. New Neighbors

1

It was a beautifully sunny August morning on Labrador Street. People were out and about, going about their business in the warm weather. Birds were chirping cheerfully, and everyone was awake and happy on that beautiful morning.

Well… all but one.

A young Belgian journalist was sleeping away the day on his couch, having stayed up until 4 AM the previous night to finish working on his latest story about a chase across the country seeking a man who had stolen a valuable jewel from its previous owner, who was now deceased. He claimed that he worked best when the deadline was nearest. Saying he could remember the adventure best just before the deadline. The newspaper editor said he was a fool for doing so, but wouldn't argue with his best journalist about how to write his stories. Once he had finished the story, he had been so tired that he collapsed on his couch and fell asleep. He was perfectly comfortable to sleep the rest of the day away, but there was someone who refused to let him.

Snowy, Tintin's white terrier dog, gave out a low whine to try and wake Tintin up. He was getting hungry, and needed someone to fill up his food bowl with his breakfast. Tintin didn't respond to the whine, so he barked, hoping that would get him to wake up. Tintin's only response was a small groan, sleepily waving away the dog with a hand that hung off the couch. He didn't get Snowy to move, but he didn't care enough at the moment to open his eyes and check. Snowy, getting annoyed with him, jumped up onto the couch and onto Tintin, barking right at his face to get him to get up. He groaned again and opened his blue eyes to his dog.

"Alright, alright…" He moved to sit up and Snowy jumped off of him as Tintin swung his legs off the couch. He sighed as he rubbed his face, still tired from the previous night. Snowy barked again, and Tintin stood up from the couch. "I'm coming, Snowy, I'm coming." Snowy led him over to his empty food bowl and Tintin smiled to himself as he got him some dog food. Snowy's stubby tail wagged happily as he saw him pour it in. "There you go." He petted Snowy's head as he dug into the dog food. He got up from where he had squatted down and stretched his arms. He looked over his appearance, and grimaced when he saw that he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday, only now they were wrinkled. He went over to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Once he had washed his face, brushed his teeth, and he was dressed and done, he glanced up at the wall clock and saw that the deadline was in about an hour, and the story still lay on his desk. Thinking it was best to get it in now rather than later, he donned his coat and grabbed the story. Snowy, seeing that Tintin was leaving, followed him as he exited his apartment. He stopped when he heard a crashing noise and looked across the hall to see a young woman had dropped a cardboard box filled with a porcelain vase, tea set, and other various breakables, one of them having smashed against the ground upon impact.

"Oh, just _great_." She groaned as she knelt down to pick up the broken pieces, being very careful not to nick her fingers on the broken glass. He saw a few men coming up the stairs as well, carrying a few boxes at a time as they walked into the apartment across the hall from his. It had been a vacant space for some time now, he figured this girl must have either just started moving in, or she was part of the moving team. And since she wore a lavender cardigan over a white blouse and a long skirt of a deep purple shade instead of the grey-blue uniforms that the movers wore, he could conclude that she was his new neighbor. Knowing he still had time, Tintin walked over to her.

"Do you need any help?" He asked. The red head of hair moved, and he found his bright blue eyes meeting a pair of deep green emeralds. She reached up, tucking some of her hair behind her ear as she nodded.

"Yes, thank you." She said. Tintin knelt down beside her, helping to pick up the broken glass and porcelain and place them back in the box she had dropped, "I think I've been moving too many boxes, my fingers are starting to lose their grip."

"Perhaps you should take a break then." Tintin suggested. The girl gave him a grin before returning to the slowly shrinking pile of brokenness. Snowy stayed off to the side the entire time it was happening, knowing better than to get near broken glass so as not to injure his feet. Tintin moved through the broken pieces, eventually coming across the broken face of a porcelain rabbit. The girl glanced up as he held it and gasped.

"No, not the rabbit!" She whined as she took it from his hands. Tintin looked up at her, seeing her pouting sadly, "I thought I… Oh, this is just my luck." She placed the broken piece in the box and Tintin looked up at her.

"Was it very important to you?" He asked.

"It was my mother's." She said. He didn't say anything more as they picked up the last pieces and put them in the box just as the movers passed by them again. She looked up at him, giving him a friendly smile, "Thanks for your help, kid."

"You're welcome." He paused for a moment, "And it's not 'kid'. It's Tintin." He was a little offended she would call him that when they must have been around the same age.

"Tintin?" The girl wrinkled her nose a little as she looked at him, "I don't think I've ever heard of anyone with that kind of name."

"Well, do you have a name that sounds better?" Tintin asked, a little peeved.

"Juliet." She said, shifting the box in her arms so she could hold it in one arm, holding out her now-free hand to shake his, "Juliet Ryder." Tintin reached out and shook her hand.

Snowy barked up at her, coming over to his master's side. Juliet noticed him right away, "Oh, well hello!" She said happily, kneeling down so she could put down her box, reaching out and scratching the little terrier behind his ear, "Aren't you just the _cutest_ little dog?" Snowy easily gave in to her scratches, laying down and rolling over onto his back so she could rub his belly, which she gladly did. "Aw, what a little sweetheart!"

"Well, I'm glad to know you like dogs." Tintin said.

"Of course I do. Dogs make for wonderful pets." Juliet said. She glanced up at him, "Is he your dog?"

"Yes. His name is Snowy." He patted his leg and Snowy rolled over and jumped up, eagerly going to his master's side again.

"And he's trained." Juliet commented, seeming impressed as she stood up.

"Yes, I don't think Mrs. Finch would have let me keep him here otherwise." Tintin said jokingly. Juliet let out a small laugh.

"She does seem to be a bit of a stiff woman." She paused for a moment, "But, does it seem like she has an odd obsession with cocoa to you? When I first spoke with her, she went on and on about the stuff."

"Yes, she's very fond of her cocoa." Tintin agreed.

There was a small pause of awkward silence.

Juliet bent down to pick up her box, "Well, I should hurry and get settled in."

"Yes, and I have some… business to attend to as well." Tintin said, patting the pocket in his coat that held the story he was to give to the newspaper. "I guess I'll be seeing you around, Ms. Ryder."

"Oh, please. Call me Juliet." She said, "Ms. Ryder makes me feel so _old_."

"Juliet, then." Tintin said with a nod. "Good day."

"And a good day to you, kid." She bid as she headed into her apartment.

"It's Tintin." He corrected, but she either hadn't heard him or didn't bother to respond as he made his way down the stairs and out the door.

* * *

After having a nice breakfast at a café that was en route to the Metro News, Tintin walked in through the front doors. He recognized some of the employees who were working and they all greeted him with a simple "Good morning" or a nod of the head, which he returned each time. He made his way to the editor's office and knocked.

"Come in." The editor's deep voice sounded from the other side. Tintin opened the door, seeing the editor sitting at his desk, going over a few different documents that were laid out in front of him. He was a big man, but he wasn't threatening in appearance. With a pair of basset eyes and bloodhound jowls, his face had been most affected by gravity over his 48 years of living. And although he was growing old and growing slow, Tintin had seen this man move as fast as a man of twenty during a day of breaking news story after breaking news story. His hair, which he assumed had once been a deep, luxurious black, had broken out in grey stripes all along his head. He was known to Tintin as Mr. Jacobs. He didn't look up as Tintin entered his office, or when he closed the door behind him, so focused was he in his work.

Snowy, delighted to see the familiar face of Mr. Jacobs, pranced around his desk and went to his chair, yipping up at him. Mr. Jacobs turned his eyes away from the documents and reached down to scratch at the little terrier's head. "Good morning, Snowy." He looked up to Tintin, greeting him with a smile, "And a good morning to you, Tintin."

"Good morning, Mr. Jacobs." He walked over to the front of his desk, reaching into his coat and pulling out the papers that he had written the previous night, "I have that story I promised you." He held it out to the man, who took them, his eyes quickly glancing over the text of the first page, and then going to the second. "I know it's a bit long, but I thought it was best if I got every detail in."

"Mm-hmm." Mr. Jacobs nodded approvingly as he looked over it all, "Yes… It all looks good." He looked up at Tintin, "We might have to take out a sentence or two, just for the sake of space. As popular as your stories are, we still need to have room in the paper for other news." He said with a joking smile. Tintin nodded.

"I understand, sir." He replied.

"Excellent." He glanced at the pages again, "And we might have to buff out any errors you may have missed, but it's nothing to worry about, I don't think."

"Of course not."

"Yes, yes…" He put the pages down, "So, besides meeting your deadline, what else do you have planned for today?"

"I was planning on running a few errands." Tintin said, "And if I have time, maybe make a quick stop at the Old Street Market. There's always something interesting to be found there."

"So there is, so there is." Mr. Jacobs nodded in agreement, "I remember once, me and my wife went to that market. We found this man that was painting portraits for three pounds each. He did a rather good job, too. Captured a good likeness of my wife and I. I think I still have that thing hanging around somewhere in the house."

"Oh, really?"

Mr. Jacobs nodded, "Yes, good man. French man, too, if I recall correctly. He had a bit of an accent. If you see him at the market, take some time to get a portrait made. He's not bad."

"I'll keep that in mind." He looked down at Snowy, patting his leg again, "Come on, Snowy." The little terrier barked and followed him out of the office as Tintin bid Mr. Jacobs goodbye.

* * *

**Hello everyone! So, in case you didn't know, this is my reboot of my first story "The Adventures of Tintin and Juliet," which I deleted a day or so ago. This takes place during the movie and the story that came with my first one will most likely be the sequel to this one. This chapter is basically the same set up as the first story, but the rest of it will be pretty different, I promise. I hope you enjoy it!**


	2. Old Street Market

2

Tintin completed his list of errands much faster than he had expected, so when it was early afternoon, he made his way into the street market, looking around at all the local vendors, and some of the newer ones. He looked around at all the merchandise, seeing a few things here and there, but nothing that really stood out to him. After walking around for a bit, he noticed that there was a man with an easel just ahead of him, with plenty of interesting portraits on display of different men and women. He walked over to them, looking over the drawings with a smile. He could recognize a few of them as celebrities he had heard about on the radio or seen in the paper.

"Good afternoon." The artist greeted him, a French accent in his voice, "Would you like a portrait drawn, sir? It's only three pounds."

Tintin glanced at the man, thinking this must have been the one that Mr. Jacobs had mentioned that morning, "Actually, I would." He smiled at him.

"Wonderful. If you could just sit on that stool there," He gestured to the wooden stool on the other side of the painting easel, "I'll get started." Tintin smiled and sat down. The man started right away, glancing between Tintin and his work. As he worked, Tintin looked around at the crowd, watching as different people roamed around through the market place. Different men and women moving around, going from vendor to vendor, getting something new to take home somewhere, or to use as a gift, or for some other reason he can't really discern at the moment. Snowy would let out a small whine every now and then, telling Tintin that he wanted to keep walking around, but every time Tintin would reach down and pet his head, telling him to be patient and stay there. As he looked through the wandering crowds, he thought he saw a familiar head of red hair wandering through, but he only caught a glimpse of it and when he tried to seek it out, he lost it.

"Very nearly there, sir." He glanced up at the artist as he looked between him and the easel. The portrait wasn't taking nearly as long as he thought it would. "I have to say, your face is familiar. Have I drawn you before?"

"Occasionally." Tintin replied vaguely. He was sure the man had seen him in the papers more than once. He wasn't afraid to show his face to the public.

"Of course! I have seen you in the newspaper." The artist said, recognizing him. "You are a reporter?"

"I'm a journalist." Tintin said. It was a common mistake, he wasn't surprised that he had made it. The thing was, with reporters they just ran around yelling for quotes while journalists tell the entire story. Snowy let out a little whine from beside him again and he reached down to pet him. "Be patient, Snowy. Not much longer." Snowy let out a disgruntled whine and turned his attention to the crowd again.

One man in particular caught the little terrier's eye, he was rocking back and forth on his feet like a giddy child, and his hands were covered with black gloves with fingers wiggling excitedly inside them. Snowy watched as the man stopped for a moment, moving his hands behind him as he started walking through the crowd, the gloved hands reaching out and swiping a wallet from one man's pocket. And then another. And another! A thief! Snowy started following the man, watching as he passed by another person, swiping the wallet from his pocket, passing it off as just him bumping into him by saying, "Oh, I do beg your pardon!" before quickly striding away. The man reached for where his wallet had been and looked around for who had bumped into him, but he was lost from his sight. The thief walked closely behind another man, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention directed elsewhere as he took his wallet from his jacket pocket. When another man was taking out a cigarette to smoke and was fumbling around for a lighter, he took _his_ wallet while lighting the cigarette.

"There." The artist smiled as he picked up his portrait and turned it around to show Tintin the finished product, "I believe I have captured something of your likeness." The portrait did look a little bit like him, with his signature quiff in his hair and a pair of rosy cheeks. He smiled as he looked at it.

"Huh. Not bad. What do you think Snowy…?" He trailed off when he realized his dog wasn't where he left him. He looked around the crowds and let out a frustrated sighed, "Oh, Snowy…" He rolled up the paper and took it off of the board it was clipped to before he reached into his pocket and paid the artist the three pounds he owed him. "There you are, sir." He got up from the stool, rolling up the portrait in his hands and putting it in the pocket of his coat as he started to make his way through the crowds, "Now, where's he run off to…? Snowy!"

He walked through the stream of people as they mulled about, looking around for his little terrier. He was focusing on the vendors, wondering if he could see any of them with his dog, or hear someone saying something about it. He wasn't really looking where he was going and jumped when he almost ran into another person. He apologized at the same time she did.

"Oh, I beg your pardon."

"Oh, I'm sorry, excuse me."

"Hey! It's you!" Tintin looked up, and saw the familiar emerald eyes from this morning, "Hello again, kid."

"It's Tintin." He corrected. He stepped to one side to go around her, and she stepped in front of him, trying to accomplish the same goal. "Oh, sorry."

"Excuse me." Juliet said as she stepped to the other side to try that way, but Tintin went the same way as her again. "Uh, pardon me."

"Um, I'm sorry." Once again, the couple tried to side-step the other, but ended up facing each other again. Juliet couldn't help the small, awkward laugh that escaped her at the situation, and Tintin did the same. "Wait, let me just…" Tintin put his hands on Juliet's shoulders and walked around so that they were facing opposite the direction they had been walking, "There."

Juliet smiled again, "What a coincidence, meeting up with you again." She said, "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Snowy." Tintin said, immediately going back to his search.

"You lost your dog?" Juliet asked.

"Not lost, he's just… he's run off somewhere." Tintin said.

"I'll help you look." Juliet offered, walking behind him, looking around for the little terrier as well.

Tintin was about to say otherwise, but he really had no reason to turn her down. He noticed that her red hair, which had been let down earlier that morning, was now pulled back into a low, stylish ponytail that hung off of the side of her shoulder. It was longer than he thought, with her hair reaching midway down the side of her shoulder. He looked around, calling out for Snowy again, and he could hear him barking. The pair of them walked past a vendor selling mirrors as Tintin reached up to try and push down the quiff in his hair, only to have it pop back up a moment later. Juliet couldn't help the little grin that came on her face as she watched him do so. Tintin called for Snowy and the little dog came running towards his master, barking up at him.

"There you are." Tintin knelt down as Snowy jumped up, scratching his head. "Where have you been? Chasing cats again?" Juliet smiled at the sight of the dog, kneeling down to pet him as well.

"Hello again, you adorable little thing." She greeted. Snowy gave in to her friendly pets and rubs. Tinting glanced at the pair of them, glad he wouldn't have to deal with Juliet complaining about her dog at the apartment. He looked up into the mirror, and the reflection of something caught his eye.

"Would you look at this…" He murmured. His words caught Juliet's attention and she looked up, seeing the reflection of the model ship that Tintin was looking at. They both turned around to see it in the glass case on the table of a vendor. Tintin knew him well enough. His name was Mr. Crabtree, an honest man who sold decent goods. He was surprised to see something like that at his little shop. He went over to get a better look at the model, which was very well done, although it did seem a bit old, if the cracks in the fading paint were any sign of that. "Triple mastered, double decks, fifty guns… Oh, isn't she a beauty." Juliet came over by his side to look at the ship.

"That's a very unique specimen, that is." Mr. Crabtree said, "From an old sea captain's estate."

Tintin looked at the side of the ship, seeing the name carved there in golden paint, "The _Unicorn_…"

"_Unicorn_. Man of war sailing ship." Mr. Crabtree said. "That's very old, that is. Sixteenth century." Tintin didn't think that. It appeared to be a seventeenth century ship, not sixteenth.

"It looks more seventeenth century to me." Juliet corrected him before Tintin could.

"Rein of Charles the First." Mr. Crabtree went on. Tintin knew that it wasn't Charles the First who reigned in the seventeenth century, it was Charles the Second.

"Charles the _Second_." Juliet corrected him again.

"That's what I said. Charles the Second." Mr. Crabtree continued, "That's the finest ship that ever sailed the seven seas. You won't find another one of these, mate. And it's only two quid." It's clear he wanted to sell it off to Tintin, who was sure to buy it, if his wide-eyed gaze when looking at it was anything to go by.

Tintin stood up, through admiring the model ship for the moment, and looked up at Mr. Crabtree, "I'll give you a pound."

"Done!" Mr. Crabtree said happily, getting up out of his chair to take his money. Tintin handed it to him and he opened the case. He reached inside and started carefully taking it out, "Gently does it…" He muttered as he made sure it didn't hit anything, then he pulled it out and handed it to Tintin, "There you go. Careful."

"It's a beautiful ship." Juliet said, smiling at Tintin, who smiled back.

Suddenly, a heavy set man in a blue suit came running up to them, panting slightly as he pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed it at the sweat coming off of him, "Hey, bud. How much for the boat?" He asked Mr. Crabtree.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just sold it to this young gent." He replied.

"Oh, yeah?" The man put his arm on Tintin's shoulder, "Tell me what you paid. I'll give you double."

"Double?" Mr. Crabtree echoed in surprise. Juliet's eyes widened slightly at his offer.

"Thanks, but it's not for sale." Tintin said, walking out so he could face the man directly, no longer underneath his arm.

"Look, kid," He frowned a little at being called 'kid' again by a complete stranger, "I'm trying to help you out. I don't think you realize this, but you're about to walk into a whole mess of danger."

"What kind of danger?" Tintin asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at the man.

He glanced at something behind Tintin and started to back away from him, "I'm warnin' you. Get rid of the boat and get out while you still can. These people do _not_ play nice!" He turned and ran away from Tintin, getting lost among the people in the crowd.

"What people?" Tintin asked quietly. His mind was starting to whirl with the man's ominous warning, but he was quickly startled out of it when someone bumped into his back.

"Wonderful." He looked to see another man gazing down at the _Unicorn_ in his arms. "Oh, it's just… wonderful." He was a tall man, taller than the one before, dressed in a red coat and expensive-looking suit. His eyes were bespectacled and he had a stylish beard on his face as he looked down at the boat with a warm smile, although his eyes said that his smile was anything _but_ warm. "Don't bother wrapping it. I'll take it as is." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a checkbook and pen, "Does anyone object if I pay by check?" Juliet narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the man as she watched him speak.

"If you wanna buy it, you'll have to talk to the kid." Mr. Crabtree said, feeling a little disgruntled that so many people wanted to buy the ship _after_ he had sold it.

The man looked over at Tintin, looking him up and down for a moment, then back to him, "I see." He clicked his pen and opened his checkbook, "Well, let the 'kid' name his price." He smiled at Tintin.

"Name his price?!" Mr. Crabtree repeated as he collapsed down in his chair with a sigh, "Ten years I've been flogging brick-a-brack and I miss _"Name your price"_ by one bleatin' minute!"

Tintin looked up at the man, "I'm sorry, I already explained to the other gentleman—"

"American, he was." Mr. Crabtree put in, "All hair oil and no socks."

"—It's not for sale." The man glanced behind Tintin when he mentioned another man, his eyes narrowing suspiciously, but he turned back to him when he spoke.

"Then let me appeal to your… better nature." He clicked the pen again and put it back in his coat with his checkbook, "I have recently acquired Marlinspike Hall. This ship, as I'm sure you're aware, was once part of the estate."

"Of the late sea captain." Tintin said, repeating the information he had heard from Mr. Crabtree.

"The family fell upon hard times. Lost everything. They've been living in a cloud of bad luck ever since."

"Gee, I wonder why." Juliet bit out sarcastically. The man narrowed his eyes, but he ignored her, his attention still on Tintin.

"We are talking _generations_ of drinking, and irrational behavior and—"

"I'm sorry." Tintin stopped him before he could go further, "But as I told you before," He pulled the ship a little closer into his arms, "It's not for sale. Good day to you, sir." He walked around the man and further into the crowd of people, getting out of the market so he could take the ship home. Snowy followed behind him and Juliet behind them, but not without sharing one final glare with the man.

The man's eyes followed the three of them as they started to blend into the crowds, "That young man," He spoke to Crabtree, but still kept his gaze on them, "What's his name?"

"Him? Everybody knows him. That's Tintin."

The man didn't say anything more before he turned around and headed back the way he had come, an unhappy scowl on his face.

* * *

Juliet walked beside Tintin as he headed out of the market, "What are you going to do with it?" She asked.

"I think I'll inspect it a little." He said, "It's gotten a strange amount of attention. I'm curious to find out why." He looked up at her, "By the way, I didn't know you were so knowledgeable about ships."

She shrugged, "When you've been surrounded by history your whole life, you tend to pick up on some of it."

"I don't understand." He replied, looking up at her curiously.

"My father is the former curator of the History Museum." Juliet said, "It was his workplace for most of my childhood. Every weekend he would bring me there to show me their latest exhibit, or just to tell me an exciting story about another one."

Tintin smiled, "He sounds like a wonderful father."

"He is." Juliet smiled fondly, thinking of a certain memory of him, "I may have flown the nest, but now he only has one child to take to the museums. Less money spent that way."

"You have a sibling?"

Juliet nodded. "Yes, a little brother. His name is Richard."

"How old?"

"He turned seven last month."

"Ah, so he's still young enough to get the children's discount, yes?"

Juliet laughed, "Yes, indeed."

Tintin turned his attention back to the ship, looking at the carved golden unicorn at the front, for which the ship must have been named. "It's such an incredible ship. And well preserved, too."

"It really is." She looked over her shoulder, "But what would Sakharine want with it?"

"Who?" Tintin looked up at her.

"Sakharine. The man in the red coat." Juliet said, turning back to him.

"You know him?" Tintin asked.

"Sort of." Juliet replied. "He's met with my father a few times about some of the things he had in the museum."

"He wanted to donate something?"

"No, he wanted to buy it." She shook her head with a frown, "That man just likes to fling his money around. It's not exactly something I enjoy seeing."

"You don't like him very much, do you?"

"No. I don't know much about him personally, but… He just has this… feeling to him." She moved her hands an in indiscernible way, "He just seems like… there's some kind of ulterior motive for everything he does, and it's not a good one."

"I think I know what you mean." Tintin said. "He seemed… very cold." Juliet nodded in agreement. "By the way, what were you doing in the Old Street Market?"

"I had some time before I needed to report for my job, so I thought I'd browse some of the things there." She shrugged, "It was just a little out of the way, but I thought it couldn't hurt." She walked around to the other side of him, "I'm actually taking this turn here."

"Oh." Tintin stopped walking, "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Juliet."

"It was nice to see you, too, kid." Juliet replied before heading off to where her workplace was.

"That's _Tintin_!" He called after her. She waved it off as she headed around the corner. Tintin sighed and continued on to his apartment. "Honestly… I'm young, but I'm not a child." He spoke to Snowy as they continued to walk, "What right does she have to call me that anyway? She can't be much older than me. If anything, I imagine she's my age or maybe a few years younger." Snowy woofed beside him. "I'm glad you see my point." He knew it was kind of silly to say that to his woof, but it made him feel a little better to complain to him. After all, Snowy was always a good listener of a person's problems. He held up the _Unicorn_, looking over it again, "But, I guess we should focus on what's happening now, rather than just what's happening with our neighbors, shouldn't we?" Another woof came from the little terrier and Tintin smiled at him.

* * *

They walked back into the apartment, Tintin closing the door behind him. "What _is_ it about this ship? Why has it attracted so much attention?" The question had been going through his mind on the entire walk home, and that wasn't the first time he had asked it aloud. He had so many theories running around in his thoughts that he just _had_ to investigate it right away. He could have another story on his hands to give to the Metro News, which would put some more food on the table for him and Snowy. Not that he wasn't living well already in a cozy apartment building with all that he would really need only a few feet away, but it was always a good idea to have some extra money around in case of emergencies. He carried it over to the dresser in the living room and carefully put it down. Snowy let out a small whine as he jumped up onto one of the chairs as Tintin gazed at the model ship, "What secrets do you hold?" He stood up, shedding his coat as he walked into his office, going over to the front of his desk and opening the first drawer. He saw his flashlight, some matchsticks, a few letters and papers, but they weren't what he was looking for.

"Ah…" He closed it and turned to the other drawers, "Where is that magnifying glass?" He was so focused on his search for the little tool he never noticed the four legged silhouette that appeared outside his window, which was unlocked. Once the little creature pressed their head against it, it easily opened up to let the little cat inside. Tintin moved away from the window just as it jumped inside, landing safely on the floor, "I could have sworn it was…" He moved away from his desk, going up to the shelves, looking to see if he left it there. He hadn't. "Not there…" He moved over to the other side of the room, looking over the top of his desk, looking around through different newspapers that bore articles that he wrote, or were about his discoveries. "Where could it possibly be? Snowy! You haven't seen the uh…" He trailed off as he went to the bookshelf, knowing Snowy was smart, but he wouldn't really be able to respond in a way he could understand if he asked that. He went over to the bookshelf and started searching through the spaces there for it. "Where is it?"

Snowy came into the room, sitting on his haunches with the magnifying glass in his mouth. Tintin was still too focused to notice him, so he let out a little whimper. Tintin looked up and saw the tool in his mouth and went over to the dog, taking it from him, "Thank you." He lifted it up to see if Snowy's slobber had gotten on it, and was surprised when he saw the face of an unfamiliar cat that let out a loud yowl once it made eye contact with Snowy, who immediately growled and barked at it. The cat turned and dashed away and Snowy was quick to follow it. "No! Snowy!" He didn't listen to his master as he followed after the cat, jumping up onto the couch where it ran under Tintin's coat.

He tried to grab the cat, but ended up tripping and falling onto his chair. The chair fell back and acted as something of a catapult that launched the feline up into the air and onto the light fixture of his living room. The cat hung on for dear life, swinging back and forth, trying to stay away from the barking dog below. Tintin went over, but it swung too high and lost its grip, it landed on his face, the claws stinging against his skin as it jumped off and landed on a nearby table, knocking over a few papers and cups. It scrambled off as soon as Snowy jumped up, but he wasn't fast enough and the dog slid off the table into the wall, running right into a photograph of a water buffalo while the cat quickly trailed up the curtains and landed on the top of a large cabinet that contained some of Tintin's plates and silverware. As it ran over the surface, it knocked a vase to the side and he ran over, quick to catch it before it could break. The cat landed down on another cabinet and the second it was within jumping distance Snowy leapt up and ran after the cat. The portrait had stuck to the poor dog's face and it hit the side of the _Unicorn_ as he snarled after the creature. This was enough to push it over the side when Tintin tripped on his carpet, Snowy landing in his doggie bed just as the cat found another open window and ran out.

The model ship crashed onto the floor and Tintin's head snapped around to see if it was damaged. The middle mast on the ship had completely snapped off and he sighed as he went over to it, picking it up. "Look what you did. You broke it!" He moved the ship down slightly as he turned to Snowy, who had just gotten his head out of the photograph frame, "Bad dog!" Snowy let out a little whimper at the words. Tintin didn't see how, from the hole where the mast had been, a small silvery cylinder slipped out and silently fell to the carpeted ground. Tintin was more focused on the model ship, trying to straighten the broken mast. Snowy looked curiously at the cylinder, moving closer to sniff at it. Tintin stepped forward so he could put the ship back on the cabinet, his shoe knocking against the cylinder and rolling it just under the cabinet. Snowy moved closer to it, sniffing at the cylinder. He reached his paws out to try and grab it, but he only succeeded in pushing it further back against the wall. He barked and whined at it, but Tintin ignored him for the moment as he looked at the _Unicorn_.

"Something happened on this ship." He walked over to the chair where his coat still laid and picked it up, "We're going to the one place that could have the answer." He looked over at where the terrier was still whining about the cylinder he hadn't seen, "Come on, Snowy." He followed the command, although the terrier still looked back at the cabinet as he followed his master out the door.

* * *

**Alright! Now things are getting started around here! I hope you all enjoyed it. :)**


	3. The Library

3

Tintin walked through the familiar doors of the library, looking up at the high ceilings for a moment. He took in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of printed pages and musty shelves. He always had a fondness for the aroma of a large library. Where there was the smell of printed ink, there was books, and lots of them. He looked around, seeing a librarian at the front desk. Her back was turned to him as she picked up some books from the return box. Her red hair was pulled back the same way Juliet's hair had been. He thought it must have been a popular hairstyle, until she turned around, revealing that it _was_ Juliet.

She looked up from her armful of books at him and her eyes widened, recognizing him right away, and she let out a small sigh, a grin coming onto her face, "Goodness. We just keep meeting up today, don't we?"

"It seems that way." Tintin said, he came up to her, "You're working in the library?"

"Part-time." Juliet said, "I work here on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while I work somewhere else every other day."

"You have two jobs?" Tintin asked in surprise.

"Being a librarian alone doesn't exactly put food on the table." Juliet replied, "What are you even doing here?"

"I'm looking for some information, and this place has always helped me in the past." Tintin said, "How familiar are you with the book organization?"

"I've memorized every single section of books and what their numbers mean." Juliet said, "It was part of my training for this place. Are you looking for something specific?"

"I'd like any books you have on historical ships that correlate with certain events." Tintin said. Juliet quirked an interested eyebrow.

"Investigating the mystery of the _Unicorn_ already?" She asked. "You work fast."

"I suppose." Tintin said with a shrug. Juliet let the return books rest on the desk for a moment as she went over to the large filing cabinets behind the front desk that held all the note cards for the book organization. She looked over the numbers quickly, opening one drawer and fingering through the cards until she found one, and then she closed it. She went to another drawer just above it, walked her fingers over the cards again and grabbed another one. Then, she went to a drawer a few steps away and picked out two more cards from it. And then she went to yet another drawer and picked out another card. This process went on for a couple of minutes until she had gathered about ten cards and brought them over to a notebook that was next to the checkout roster. She opened it up, taking a pen and quickly scribbling down something from each card and once she was done, she ripped the page out of the notebook and held it out to Tintin.

"I think these books will help you find what you're looking for." Juliet said. Tintin's eyes widened as he looked over the different labels for all the numbers.

"You memorized the name of each book that went with each number?" He asked in surprise. He didn't think the job of a librarian would involve so much memorization.

"Oh, no." Juliet shook her head quickly, "The titles of the books are on the cards, see?" She held up one that held the information for a book titled _Wreck & Ruin_. "I don't think I have the mental capacity to memorize what each single solitary number is for." She put the card down and put the lot of them into a neat pile to rest in a small basket on a desk. "Do you need any help finding them?"

"No, I think I can find them from here, but thank you." Tintin said, folding up the paper. Juliet looked over the desk, smiling down at Snowy, who barked up at her. She winced at the noise and shushed the little dog. Tintin lowered his voice as he spoke, "Ah, don't worry. Snowy knows how to behave in the library."

"That's good to know." Juliet replied in a soft voice, "If you need anything, I'm on duty for the next few hours. Just come and find me."

"I didn't think you'd be so willing to help me with this." Tintin said with a joking grin, "We've only just met today."

Juliet rolled her eyes, "It's my _job_ to help you, kid. Now go and find those books." She gave him a playful push to the shoulder and he walked away.

"It's _Tintin_." He corrected. Again, Juliet waved him off as she picked up the pile of books from the return box and walked away to another part of the library. Tintin sighed and went up the stairs to where the books she had listed out were waiting for him.

It took him a minute or two to find the aisles that held the books that Juliet had suggested, as well as some others that caught his eye that he thought might help him. He took the huge armful of books over to one of the vacant tables and sighed. _I've got my work cut out for me._ He thought to himself. It's not as though he wasn't used to the idea of going through books all night, but it was still tiring. Snowy let out a little whine and Tintin looked over at him, giving him a sheepish smile as he reached over and petted his head. "Looks like we're going to be here for a while, Snowy." Snowy let out a displeased grunt, moving his head on the table and resting it there. Tintin let out a chuckle, "I'm sure this won't take too long if I just dive right in." He opened up the first book, looking through the table of contents to find where it listed famous ships of the 16th century.

Snowy moved his head off of the table and curled up into a little ball on the seat, closing his eyes. If they were going to be here for a while, he might as well take a little nap to pass the time.

* * *

After a long and pleasant nap, Snowy found that his master was still going through the different books he had brought. He yawned loudly and jumped off of the chair he had been napping on. He sniffed around to see if there was anything interesting nearby. Immediately, he caught the scent of that person that he had seen so often today. The one that gave the good belly rubs. He looked around and saw that she was moving into one of the aisles nearby, putting some books away. He went over to her, letting out a little whine to get her attention and she looked down. She smiled warmly at the little terrier and knelt down as he came up to her, letting him jump up on her leg.

She petted his head, "Hey buddy!" She whispered happily to him. Snowy easily gave in to her scratches, rolling over onto his back so she could rub his belly. She laughed and she reached over, giving him what he wanted. He squirmed happily, feeling his left hind leg starting to kick when she scratched over a certain part that felt especially good. She noticed this and kept scratching there. Snowy panted happily, he was in belly rub _heaven_.

Juliet smiled down at the little dog and once she was finished scratching his belly, she patted it a couple times before standing up, putting away the book in her arms. Snowy rolled over, getting back up on his feet and he followed Juliet around the shelves over to where Tintin was. For the first time since his nap was over, he noticed that it had become significantly darker, the sound of thunderous rumbles coming from the distance.

"It looks like the storm is finally starting to settle down." Juliet whispered to Tintin, who glanced up at her when she spoke, "Have you found anything?"

"Not yet." Tintin said, "There are a lot of ships from the 16th century, it's hard to find just one specific ship."

"It's a shame this isn't made easier." Juliet sighed. "You've been here for _hours_ and you haven't found a single thing?"

"I've found mentions of it, but nothing about what happened to it." Tintin said, "It's very difficult." He sighed, "If only I could say "The _Unicorn_" and magically have the ship appear in front of me." Juliet nodded.

"Yes, well, I'm afraid that's not going to happen in the near future." She said softly, "And, it's actually close to the end of my shift. I'll be heading back home in a little while before the night shift workers come in. Are you sure you want to stay here?"

Tintin nodded, but stopped as he stared at the page, "Here it is!" Juliet and Snowy moved around the table at his announcement, wanting to see what he had found as he started reading aloud. "Sir Francis Haddock of Marlinspike Hall, the last captain of the ill-fated _Unicorn_. The ship set sail from Barbados in 1676 on one of the most ruinous voyages in maritime history." His brow furrowed as he read this line and Juliet looked at the illustration on the page with great interest, "The ship never reached destination…" He trailed off, his eyes scanning over the page to save some time, "Attacked by pirates… All hands lost except for one survivor. When Sir Francis was rescued and returned home, he was convinced his name had been cursed. The _Unicorn_'s manifest stated that it was carrying a cargo of rum and tobacco bound for Europe, but it was long claimed that the ship was carrying a secret cargo." He paused for a moment, "…What was the ship carrying?"

"Maybe you'll find some more rumors if you keep reading." Juliet suggested, and Tintin did so, his eyes already focused back on the page when she spoke.

"Historians have tried and failed to discover what happened on that fatal voyage. But Sir Francis's last words "Only a true Haddock will discover the secret of the _Unicorn_."" He stopped reading, having found all he needed to. He reached for another book, going through the pages he had already read that mentioned the Unicorn, but it said nothing like the other book had told him. He closed it and put it in a pile of books he had finished reading. He flipped through another one, finding it didn't tell him much more than the other one had, and closed it as well. He put it away, but he suddenly had the feeling that a pair of unknown eyes were on him. He turned around to look behind him, seeing a shadow disappear behind the bookshelf.

"Did you see that?" He asked Juliet, who looked up at where he was looking.

"See what?" She asked.

She, Tintin, and Snowy jumped when lightning flashed outside the windows of the library, followed by a roll of thunder. Tintin sighed for a moment. The storm was making him paranoid, that was all. He closed up all the open books and stood up from his seat. He grabbed his coat and walked around the table, Juliet and Snowy following him. "I'm going back to the apartment."

"Do you mind if I walk with you?" Juliet asked.

"Not at all." Tintin replied and she continued to walk by his side. They went through the front doors of the library just as an elderly man walked in, presumably the night shift librarian. It was still sprinkling a little outside, but not enough to convince the couple to pull out an umbrella. The walk back to the apartment was a quick one and they both headed inside.

"I've missed something, Snowy." He said to his dog while Juliet closed the door quietly behind them. "We need to take a closer look at that model." He paused halfway up the stairs to see Juliet was coming up behind him. She stopped when he looked at her.

"What is it?" She asked.

"…Nothing." Tintin replied. "Are you going to retire for the night?" Juliet shook her head.

"I was thinking of staying up a little longer to catch up on some reading, why?" She asked.

Tintin almost wanted to ask if she'd want to look at the model with him, but he thought better of it. "Just curious. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Juliet bid as he continued up the stairs, quickly moving into his apartment as Juliet went over to hers just across the hall. Tintin walked into his apartment, going to the cabinet where he left the Unicorn model and saw that it wasn't there. He stared at the empty space for a moment, thinking over what might have happened to it and he snapped his fingers when he realized that it had been stolen.

"Of _course_ it's gone!" He said, "How could I be so stupid?" After all the attention it had gotten, someone was bound to steal it. Especially after he had been out of the house for so long! He had a pretty good idea of who had stolen it, too. He still didn't know the name of the blue-suited American, but he wasn't the one that first came to mind. Mr. Sakharine, as Juliet had said his name was, was the first one he thought of. That man with the false smile and the cold eyes… He had been insistent about the _Unicorn_, but in a much more subtle and experienced way than the American man. He looked to the front door and walked out, heading across the hall to Juliet's door and knocking on it.

A moment later she came to the door, still dressed in her coat, although her shoes were off of her feet, "Yes? What is it?"

"Do you know where Marlinspike Hall is?" Tintin asked.

"What?" Juliet's nose wrinkled at the sudden question.

"My model's been stolen. I think it was that Sakharine that took it." Tintin said.

"What?!" Juliet opened the door a little more, her eyes growing wide.

"He's living at Marlinspike Hall, do you know where that is?" Tintin asked.

"Well… Yes." Juliet nodded. "When he was discussing buying one of the exhibits, we had to do it at his home, in Marlinspike…" She looked around her for a moment, as if searching for something, "Hang on just a second." Tintin stayed at the door when Juliet ran to another part of her apartment. He thought she must have been going to make him a map of where to find the place and waited patiently. Through the door he could see that the furniture had been placed around her flat, but there were still plenty of unpacked boxes. She reappeared, with some boots on her feet rather than the simple slippers she had been wearing before. She smiled at him, readjusting her coat. "Okay, I think if we hurry we can make it there before it gets too dark." She was about to walk out the door, but Tintin reached out for her arm and stopped her.

"Wait, what are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm coming with you." Juliet said, as if it were obvious.

"Are you sure?" Tintin asked, "Mr. Sakharine doesn't really seem like the kind of man who would give up what he's taken easily. It could be dangerous." Juliet moved her arm from his grasp.

"Danger? I walk on the wild side." She boasted, "I _laugh_ in the face of danger. Ha, ha, ha!" She let out a triumphant laugh. Tintin rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious." He said.

"So was I." Juliet said, "And it's not like you know the way. I'm coming with you whether you like it or not." She started walking down the stairs and Tintin sighed.

"Wait a minute." He called to her, and she stopped, looking up at him. Tintin went into his apartment and came out a little while later, Snowy trailing behind him as Tintin held up a flashlight. "Now we won't have to worry about how dark it gets." Juliet smiled.

"Clever thinking." She replied, and they all went down the stairs and out the door.

* * *

Tintin and Juliet took a cab for most of the distance, but Juliet had him stop a few yards from the property to avoid being seen by anyone in the house. They paid the man and he went off. It was getting late into the night, and the storm had cleared for the most part. The moon was visible in the dark sky, but the stars could not be seen. They soon approached the main gate, where the name of the hall was carved in marble on one side. Tintin went up to the front of the gate, seeing that it had been locked up with a chain around each handle. With a little hope, he reached up and pulled on the handles, hoping the chains were weak, or that the lock wasn't that good. Unfortunately, the chains were strong, and the lock was closed up tight. He tried it again, making a rattling noise as he kept tugging on it, but it wouldn't budge. He heard Snowy barking and looked down to see the little terrier was already on the other side of the gate. He held the flashlight up to the little dog.

"How'd you do that?" He asked. Snowy barked and trotted over to the wall next to the gate, where a large hole was waiting for them. Tintin smiled and crawled through the hole, Juliet just behind him. "Good boy." He waited until Juliet poked her head out and he held out his hand to help her up. She took it and let him pull her to her feet. She dusted off her skirt with a sigh.

"Maybe I should invest in some trousers." She said, looking up at Tintin.

"Well, they _would_ be better if you made a habit of crawling everywhere." He replied with a smirk. Juliet grinned slightly, giving his shoulder a small smack as the two of them walked forward through the huge courtyard. It was clear that the place hadn't been properly cared for in years. Vines were crawling up every overgrown tree, the grass was uncut and went up to their knees, and any bushes were outgrown. Any pattern they may have formed in the past was completely gone as it just looked like one scraggly bush after another scraggly bush now. Marlinspike Hall was at the end of the gravel walkway. Looking up at the building, it was clear that it had once been a great place. The red of the bricks had faded into a light shade of pink, and vines grew out over the walls and around the windows, which were now all boarded up tight, but the door itself was not. There was the occasional stain or crack along the house, and the roof looked as if it had certainly seen better days. The fountain in front of the house was out of order, and only murky, algae-filled puddles were there in place of clean, clear water. They walked up to the front door, and Tintin shined the flashlight curiously at the top of the molding on the door, looking at the crest of a fish jumping out of the water and being crowned.

"That coat of arms…" Tintin muttered as he looked up at it, "Why does it look familiar?" Juliet looked up at the crest as well, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"Well… the only thing I can note about it is that it's a haddock fish." Juliet said, turning to Tintin.

"Of course!" He smiled at the revelation. "Marlinspike Hall is the old Haddock estate!" Snowy walked around them letting out a little whine. Tintin hissed at him to be quiet. He turned to see the little terrier had disappeared again, "Snowy?" He moved the flashlight around to search for him, and soon found a dark-colored muzzle on the other end. His and Juliet's eyes widened at the sight of the growling Rottweiler.

Tintin grabbed Juliet's hand and they ran off just as the barking guard dog came after them. He ran into the thicker parts of the untreated courtyard and Juliet kept pace with him, their hearts pounding furiously in their chests as they heard the dog getting closer and closer. Tintin leaped over a small pond and Juliet did the same. Neither of them looked back to see how close the dog was, but they heard the splash of it running through the pond, not having slowed down at all. As they came by a low-hanging, long branch, Tintin pushed Juliet ahead of him as he reached back to pull on the branch so that when he released it, it would smack the dog's face. However, when he let it go, the dog just chomped through the branch, breaking it and kept running after them. The pair of them ran up to a wall, and could see no way out. The dog was just behind them and they turned around to face the creature. As it came closer, Tintin put his arm around Juliet, pulling her to him to try and protect her from the oncoming attack. A flash of white shot through a hole in the wall and Snowy, being the brave terrier that he is, started barking and growling at the big Rottweiler dog. To Tintin and Juliet's amazement, the dog backed off, calming down and even rolling over on his back, giving in to the mighty terrier. They both let out huge breaths of relief, smiling down at their furry savior. Tintin knelt down as Snowy came up to them.

"Well done, Snowy!" He praised, lovingly scratching his head, "Good boy!" Juliet breathed in relief and she felt her legs giving out as she slid down the old wall, panting for breath.

"Oh my goodness." She breathed, "I don't think I've ever been so afraid in all my life."

"Are you alright?" Tintin asked. She nodded.

"Yes… Yes, I should be fine, now." She took in a deep breath and pushed herself to stand up. She seemed a little wobbly, but she looked fine otherwise. "I don't suppose you come across this sort of thing often?"

"More than you know." Tintin replied, he looked her over one more time, "If you want, you can go home. If we get deeper into this, we don't know what will happen, and I'm already here. You can go home and rest." Juliet shook her head.

"After coming this far? No way." She smiled at him, "You've gotten me a little interested in this whole _Unicorn_ thing. I want to know its secret, too… _And_ I don't have enough money for a cab ride back." She smiled sheepishly and Tintin sighed. He didn't want Juliet to push herself for someone she only met that morning, but he had to admire her determination.

They made their way back to the house, Snowy keeping the big dog occupied by playing with him. Tintin move over to one of the boarded windows, looking to see if any of them were easily accessible, Juliet followed behind him. She looked up at one of the windows, seeing that one of the panes had been smashed open by something and the window lock was within reach.

"Tintin, here." She waved him over to where she was. She reached up for the lowest board on the window and started pulling on it, "Help me get this off." Tintin pocketed his flashlight and grabbed the other end of the board. With their combined strength, they managed to get it off with a scrape. They both stumbled back for a moment, but once the board was off, they dropped it and went over to the window. Juliet pointed out the smashed window pane, and he understood exactly what she wanted to do. Tintin, being the taller of the two of them, reached up to try and get to the window lock but it wasn't close enough.

"Juliet," He turned to her, "If I give you a boost up, do you think you can get that lock?" Juliet glanced up at the window, then back to him and nodded.

"I think so." She went over to the edge of the window and Tintin moved his arms around her legs and with a grunt he lifted her up. She was a bit heavier than he thought she would be, but he didn't dare mention it to her. A gentleman _never_ talks about a woman's weight (not to her face, anyway). Her rear end sat on his shoulder and she used one hand to lean against the stone wall of the house so she could keep her balance. Carefully, she reached inside the window, moving slowly so as not to cut herself on the broken glass and she reached up to turn the lock on the window. She turned the handle and pushed the window open. She smiled as she managed to slip inside of the house with Tintin's help, and once she was in, she reached back out to him. He grabbed her hands and she pulled him up and soon he was inside with her. He took his flashlight out of his pocket and the two of them started to walk through the dark rooms where furniture and construction stools were lain about.

"Was the mansion like this when you came here?" Tintin whispered to her.

"Sort of. We were only allowed in one room. I've never seen the rest of the house." Juliet whispered back. They moved as quietly as they could through the house, unaware of a pair of drooping grey eyes that were following silently behind them.

They moved through one door, the hinges creaking as it was pushed open. They were led into what must have once been a sitting room. Tintin's flashlight moved over the various furniture, and it stopped once he saw a glass container that had a drape placed over it. He went over to it and pulled the drape off, revealing an almost perfectly preserved _Unicorn_ model. He smiled triumphantly at being right and he went to the front of the container, opening it to take the ship out. He moved his flashlight over it, seeing that there wasn't any damage to it as he held it.

"Well, well, well." He said as he looked it over, "It seems we've caught our thief." He stopped when he heard a deep sigh that wasn't from him or Juliet and he turned around just as a shadowed figure hit his head with a candle stick, knocking him unconscious. The last thing he heard was Juliet crying out his name.

* * *

**Dun-dun-DAAAH! Haha, just kidding. I'm pretty sure you all know what's going on if you've seen the movie. But, we will get a little something more about Juliet in the next chapter. And maybe Sakharine, too. Just to make you guys want to read it. **

**Kudos to anyone who caught the Lion King reference!**


	4. Marlinspike Hall

4

Tintin came to with a groan. The room's light filled his eyes and he blinked rapidly to get the spots out of his gaze. He felt a weight on his stomach being lifted off and he moved his head up to look. Big mistake. His head started pounding and he groaned, bringing his hands to his head as he sat up.

"Welcome to Marlinspike Hall." Sakharine's voice rang through the air and he turned around to see him and a droopy-eyed bald man in a fine vest holding the _Unicorn_ model in his hands on the other side of him. "I see you let yourself in." Tintin quickly stood up, seeing that Juliet was not within sight.

"Where's Juliet?" He demanded.

"Juliet?" Sakharine thought for a moment, "Oh, yes. The Ryder girl. She's waiting for you outside." He waved his cane towards the exit, and Tintin glanced at it, but his gaze quickly turned back to the ship in the bald man's hands.

"I'm not leaving." He said, he went over to the bald man and put his hands on the _Unicorn_, "I came to retrieve my property."

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I follow you." Sakharine said, looking at Tintin with what seemed like genuine confusion.

"Oh, I think you do." Tintin said. He pulled the model closer to him, although the other man still kept his hands on it, "This ship was stolen from my apartment less than an hour ago."

Sakharine's eyes widened, "I'm afraid you're mistaken, Mr. Tintin." The man pulled the ship back closer to himself, away from Tintin.

"There's no mistake." Tintin said assuredly, pulling the model back to him, "It belongs to me."

"Are you sure?" Sakharine asked. There was a pause where the man slowly started to pull the ship away from Tintin, and he yanked it out of the other man's grasp.

"Of course I'm sure." He cradled it in his arms, taking a few steps towards the exit, relaying the story out to the two of them, "I took it home, put it on the cabinet in the living room, and then Snowy chased the cat and knocked it over and it f…" He trailed off as he put his hands to the middle mast, realizing it was still solidly put in this model. It hadn't snapped off, "…Fell." He slowly turned around to face the two men, "This isn't my ship."

"No, indeed." Sakharine said as the other man took the _Unicorn_ model from him and put it back in the glass case.

"I'm sorry… It looks identical." He kept his eyes on the model as it was being put away. Sakharine came over to him, taking him by the arm and starting to lead him out of the room.

"Well, looks _can_ be deceiving." He said.

Tintin glanced up at him, "Yes, indeed." He looked back at the ship and yanked his arm out of Sakharine's grasp, so many new questions running through his mind as he went back to the _Unicorn_ model. "But I don't understand. Why did Sir Francis make two ships exactly alike?" He walked around the glass case, looking over the ship as Sakharine stepped closer, "And you have one already! Why do you want another?" He rested his hands on his knees, looking at the ship with an interested twinkle in his eye. "What is it about this model that would cause someone to steal it?"

"Goodness me!" Sakharine said with a laugh, "Why so many questions?"

"It's my job." Tintin said, "There could be a story here. It's what I do, you see." He stood up to face Sakharine.

"Well, it's no great mystery." Sakharine said, "Sir Francis Haddock was a drunkard. A hopeless reprobate. He was doomed to fail and he _bequeathed_ that failure to his sons." He nodded towards the door and started walking towards it. Tintin followed him.

"So it's true!" He exclaimed, "The Haddock line is cursed!" He was stopped when Sakharine's cane suddenly snapped out in front of him, keeping him from going any further. He looked up at Sakharine, his face taking on a cold and threatening expression.

"What else have you found out?" He asked in a low voice.

"What is there to find?" Tintin asked in return, shoving the cane away from him.

Sakharine was quick to put it back up, placing it at the back of his shoulder instead of at his front, "That depends on what you're looking for."

"I'm _looking_ for answers, Mr. Sakharine." Tintin said.

Sakharine gave him a chilling smile, "You're looking in the wrong place." He kept his eyes on Tintin still, and he could feel his heart clenching slightly in fear. This man truly meant business, "It's late. I think you should go home." He moved his cane away from Tintin to gesture towards the door. The other man, who held Tintin's flashlight in his hands held it out to him and dropped it just when Tintin was able to catch it.

"This way, sir." He said. Tintin followed after him, glancing back at Sakharine before he went out the door.

"And tell your little girlfriend to keep off of my property, if you don't mind." Sakharine called to him just before they went through the door. Tintin followed the man to the front door of Marlinspike Hall, where Juliet waited outside like Sakharine had said. She had been pacing and she sighed in relief when she saw Tintin coming through the door, quickly coming up to him.

"Are you alright?" She asked quickly. "How's your head?"

"It's fine." Tintin said, reaching up and rubbing the bump that was still forming there.

"It's a pity, sir." The man spoke behind him and Tintin turned around to face him.

"I'm sorry?"

"That the mast broke on your model ship, sir." The man specified, "I hope you've found all the pieces?" He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Things are so easily lost." Tintin's brow furrowed at his words, and he was about to ask him what he meant, when they all heard Sakharine shouting for him.

"Nestor! Where are you?!"

The man, Nestor, sighed tiredly and turned back to Tintin, "Goodnight, sir." He nodded to Juliet before he closed the door. Tintin looked in front of him, his brow still furrowed in confusion. He turned to Juliet, who was still looking at him.

"Do you know what he meant by that?" Tintin asked.

Juliet shook her head. "I have no idea." She looked over his head, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Tintin assured her. He started heading down the stairs, "Come on. It's getting late. I'll take you home." Juliet followed him down.

"That's sweet of you to say, kid, but your home is my home." She said, "I'd be walking with you whether you'd want me to or not."

"It's not 'kid.' It's _Tintin_." He corrected. "Why do you insist on calling me that?"

"Well, you don't exactly look like a man to me, so I call you 'Kid'." Juliet replied.

Tintin felt his cheeks flushing, "I'm young, but I'm not a child. You can't be much older than I am!"

"I'm probably not." Juliet shrugged, "But unless you prove to me that you're a man, I'm going to keep calling you 'kid.'"

Tintin sighed, deciding not to pursue the subject any further. He called for Snowy, taking him away from his bigger friend, who followed them all the way to the gate. Juliet gave the guard dog an affectionate rub of the head before she crawled out of the hole they had come through. The bigger dog stayed behind as they walked around the gate of Marlinspike Hall.

"You and Mr. Sakharine seem to have… a little more history than I thought." Tintin said, choosing his words carefully. Juliet sighed.

"Yes… Sakharine and I aren't exactly… fond of each other." She said hesitatingly.

Tintin waited a moment for her to continue speaking, when she didn't he gestured for her to go on, "May I hear why?"

"Oh." Juliet thought about it for a moment, "Remember when I told you my father was the _former_ curator of the History Museum?" Tintin nodded, "…It's sort of Sakharine's fault that my father is no longer the curator." She sighed, "It's a long story."

"I think we've got time." Tintin said, "After all, I don't think any taxis are running at this hour…" He looked around the streets, seeing that it was bare of any running cars, although the street lights were still lit. He kept his flashlight on as well, just to make sure that they could see better.

Juliet nodded, "I suppose that's true…" She said softly. She took in a deep breath, "Well, let's see… A few years ago, my father was still working at his museum with plenty of artifacts that had been donated from these people from all over the world. I've met a couple of them, one was this eccentric egomaniac philanthropist from Germany who donated these very fine royal jewels, there was a Chinese nobleman who donated some of his family's beautiful tapestries, another was this adventurous archeologist from America— I think you would have liked him, he had a fondness for discovering traps and causing up trouble. Also had a strange admiration of whips. Anyway, we survived off of these donations, so when the current owner of Marlinspike Hall— a place _teeming_ with old history— came to my father, he was ecstatic, thinking he wanted to donate something. Turns out he just wanted something of ours. It was this old book that had information about maritime ships that was written back in the eighteenth century. He insisted on buying it from my father, and he denied him. He left, and we thought that was the end of it, but he came back a week later with twice as much money and _demanded_ we sell him the book. Again, my father refused and _oh_ was he _mad_ about it. He shouted all sorts of things at my father, calling him all kinds of names, saying his museum wouldn't last another week. Then he left, and I got a little worried, but my father was fine about it. But after a while, less and less people started coming in… and less people came to donate things… and before we knew it, the museum was completely empty almost every day. My father had to sell the museum to someone who would take it, and guess who his first buyer was?"

"Sakharine." Tintin said. Juliet nodded, a scowl on her face.

"The _day_ he decided to sell, Sakharine just _happened_ to drop by, offering to take the place off our hands." Juliet shook her head, "After my father sold it to him, the first thing he did was take that book out of the case and he left. When we went by the place a few days later, the entire place had been boarded up, the building had been condemned and it was set to be knocked down. It broke my heart to see my father's livelihood, his _pride and joy_, demolished like that. Now he just gets on as a history professor at a local high school, but I've never forgiven Sakharine for what he did. I don't know how he did it, but I'm certain he's the reason my father's museum went out of business."

Tintin was quiet for a moment, thinking over all that she had said, "I'm sorry to hear that." He said softly.

Juliet sighed, "There's no need for you to be sorry. You didn't know." She said. She looked up, seeing that her talking had taken longer than she thought, since Labrador Street was in view now.

"What about that other man?" Tintin asked, "His name was Nestor?"

"Oh. I think he… comes with Marlinspike Hall?" She said unsurely, "I don't know. All I know is that he's been in the service of whoever owned Marlinspike Hall for the past thirty or forty years. He mentioned something like then we spoke. He came to my father's house to express his apologies over the loss of his museum." Juliet shook her head, "Why a man that kind is working for a man like Sakharine… it's a pity."

"Hmm…" Tintin thought for a moment, "What do you think when he meant when he said 'some things are so easily lost?'"

Juliet shrugged, "I really don't have any idea. You didn't tell me that your ship was broken." She commented.

"Oh. It… never really occurred to me until I saw that second model." Tintin said. "I can't help but keep thinking about what he said… 'Some things are easily lost'…"

"He must have been trying to tell you something." Juliet said. Tintin nodded.

"Of that much, I'm sure… but what?" He wondered to himself all the way up the street, repeating it softly all the way up the street. Juliet got a little annoyed with it, but she didn't say anything. It was late, and she was pretty exhausted after all of this adventuring.

* * *

It wasn't long until they got to their apartment complex, heading up the stairs. As Tintin reached into his pocket to get his keys, Snowy jumped up against the door, and it was pushed open. This caught both Tintin and Juliet's attention and she turned to him.

"Did you lock your door when you left?" She asked.

"I think so…" He murmured. He pocketed the keys, turning on his flashlight, whispering at Snowy to get back as he slowly opened the door. It put some light into the room, but not much. He could see that some of his things were strewn about the floor. Juliet was just behind him when he turned on the lights, seeing that everything was in disarray. All the cabinets had been opened, all the drawers pulled out, all the chairs flipped over, the sheets were off of his bed, his office was in shambles, and even his refrigerator had been completely emptied. "Great Snakes!"

"Was anything taken?" Juliet asked, walking into his apartment.

"I don't think so." Tintin said. Snowy barked at the two of them to get their attention and they saw him run over to the cabinet, growling and whining at something underneath it. Tintin ran over to him, "What is it, Snowy?" He knelt down, using his flashlight to try and see what it was, and he saw something glint against the light. Snowy barked at the cabinet and Tintin stood up, grabbing the sides of it and pushing it away from the wall. He looked down at what the flashlight still shone on, and saw it was a small, metal cylinder. He knelt down to pick it up, looking over it. The edges of the metal had been gilded with small, swirling, wave-like designs. He stood up, still gazing at it.

"What is that?" Juliet asked, coming over to see it. Tintin looked over it, and he smiled when he realized just what it was that Nestor must have been talking about.

"Ah-ha!" He exclaimed, grasping it, "This was in the mast!" He went over to the kitchen table, where a lamp laid on its side to provide him some light. Juliet came to his side, watching as he opened it up and took out a small, yellow scroll of paper. Snowy, who had just run into the office, came running back out with Tintin's magnifying glass in his mouth. He jumped up onto a chair near the table and held it out to him. Tintin reached out and took it, "Good boy, Snowy." The little terrier barked happily at the praise as Tintin carefully unrolled the scroll, using his magnifying glass to read the words.

"_Three brothers joined. Three Unicorns in company. Sailing in the noonday Sun will speak. For 'tis from the Light that Light will dawn, and shines forth the Eagle's Cross._" He read out the words on the scroll written in elegant script in Old English. He furrowed his brow as he looked at the different markings on the bottom of the scroll, "What are these markings? Some kind of… secret language or… or code?"

"It doesn't make any sense." Juliet said.

"No, it doesn't." Tintin agreed, "But it does explain why they ransacked the flat. They were looking for this," He held up the scroll, "And didn't find it. Which means… they'll be back."

Tintin and Juliet jumped when they heard the ringing of the doorbell from down stairs. Tintin shed his coat and went into his office for a moment. Juliet's eyes widened when she saw him taking a gun out of a drawer and tucking it in the back of his pants. He made his way into the hall as Mrs. Finch spoke to whoever was outside the other door. Juliet listened as well, with Snowy working his way between their legs. Tintin took the poem and tucked it away in his wallet before he stepped out.

"…No, I don't know where he is, dearie. I think he's gone out." She said, "And anyway, it's after dark and Mister Tintin is most particular about not admitting visitors after bedtime." He slowly made his way down the stairs and Snowy was about to follow him, but he held out his hand to stop the dog. He looked to Juliet and she nodded, silently telling him that she'll stay up here as well. He put his hand behind him, grasping the gun in his hand and holding it carefully as he slowly made his way downstairs. Snowy growled down at the visitor from his place by the stair railing. "I have to go back to my cocoa. I've got a _very_ good book and a cup of cocoa. It's _really_ lovely—!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Finch." Tintin said, getting her attention before she started up on another cocoa rant. "I can look after this." Mrs. Finch, not going to argue with a chance to get back to what she loves, headed back inside her room and shut the door behind her.

"Hey kid, is that you?" The deep voice of the heavyset American came from the other side of the door, "Open the door."

Tintin came up to the side of the door, but didn't show the man his face, "What do you want?"

"Look, the game is up." At these words, Tintin raised his gun towards the door, "He's gonna be back. Now, I know he wanted those boats, but I swear to God I never thought he'd _kill_ anyone over it!"

"Who?" Tintin stepped back from the door, gun still raised, "Who are you talking about?"

"I'm trying to tell you that your life is in danger!" The man said urgently.

"Answer me!" Tintin demanded, "Who?!"

The sound of gunfire rang out, the first few bullets shooting through the door. On instinct, Tintin ducked down, curling up to avoid the shots as the zoomed past him. Juliet let out a shriek when a couple of them hit the stairs and she gathered up Snowy to try and protect him, backing away from the stairs and crouching down. The bullets shot through the door and hit a few things in the hallway, and they knocked the door lock off. Once there was a silence, Tintin jumped up, gun at the ready as the door creaked open, the American man having pushed it. His eyes were wide and his face was pale. When he came in, Snowy let out a growl, but he stopped once the man dropped the paper that had been tucked under his arm, his hand grabbing at his chest as he collapsed the floor. Tintin went to his side immediately, looking over him, seeing that many of the bullets had pierced his back.

"Mrs. Finch!" He called for the landlady, whose door was already open, "A man's been shot on our doorstep!"

"Not again…" She muttered.

"Call an ambulance!" Tintin shouted urgently at her and she ran off to do so as Tintin ran outside. Snowy jumped out of Juliet's arms and she ran down the stairs to see the man, who was gasping for breath. As Tintin ran out, a blue car sped off with squealing tires. Snowy started running after it, barking loudly, "No! Snowy!" The dog obeyed and stopped going after the car, but it still barked and growled in its direction until it was gone.

Juliet knelt down beside the man, looking over him worriedly, "D-Don't worry, you'll be alright, the ambulance is coming." She told him. He looked up at her, starting to say something.

"K-Kar…! Kara…!" He gasped.

"Care? Carry?" Juliet tried to make sense of what he was saying, "What is it? Carrey? Is that your name?" He pointed at the newspaper and she brought it closer to him, thinking that was what he wanted. He reached out with a bloody hand and started pointing to different letters on the front page, leaving a bloody fingerprint on them. "What are you…" She tried to read what he was spelling out, but it didn't make sense to her, "K-A-R-A-B-O-U…" His fingers went to other letters and her brain saw it as only a bunch of gibberish. She shook her head, "I-I don't understand." She looked at him, waiting for him to say something more, but his body stilled, and no more breath came from him. "…Sir?" She put her hands on his shoulders just as Tintin came back in. He rushed to the man's side.

"Can you hear me?" He asked him, helping Juliet push him onto his back, "Can you…" He stopped, seeing that his eyes had closed. He placed his hand on the man's neck, and felt no pulse. Juliet looked up at Tintin worriedly and he shook his head, releasing the man. "He's gone."

"Oh, God…" Juliet murmured, taking her hands off of his body, looking at him with wide eyes. Tintin let out a deep sigh and looked over at the newspaper, seeing the bloody fingerprints.

"Did he say anything?" Tintin asked as he reached for the paper. Juliet nodded.

"H-He was trying to tell me something." She bit her lip, "I couldn't really understand him. I think he tried to spell it out on that." She pointed to the newspaper and Tintin looked over the letters. He stood up and went over to Juliet, holding out his hand. Hers shook as she reached out and let him pull her up. She looked down at the corpse and Tintin put his arm on her shoulder, directing her away from it. In the distance, they could hear the siren from the ambulance.

Tintin looked outside the door, and then looked back to Juliet, "Go back to your apartment. Try and get some rest. I'll talk to them and I'll see you in the morning, alright?"

"But… what if they come back?" Juliet asked.

"They got their man, I don't think they'll come back anytime soon." He said.

"No, I mean…" Juliet trailed off as the men from the ambulance came inside, going to where the man was lying. They knelt down to see to him, taking his pulse. But before the other man had a chance to put him on a gurney, the other raised his hand, telling him not to. They looked up at Tintin.

"Did you know him?" They asked. Tintin shook his head.

"No… I'm sorry."

The other man sighed and they both carefully put the man on the gurney, "We'll take him to the morgue. We'll be able to properly examine him there, and we'll find out who he is." They picked up the corpse and took it into the ambulance, the siren was silent as they drove off.

"That poor man…" Juliet said quietly. Tintin looked back at her.

"Come on, let's go upstairs." He gently led her by the arm back up to their apartments, "I have some friends in the Interpol department, they might be able to look into this."

"Tintin," Juliet reached out, resting her hand on top of his. He looked up into her eyes, surprised at the concern that was there, "What if those men come back for you? You said they were searching for that scroll…"

"Oh." He hadn't thought about that. He glanced back at the door, which was still open until Mrs. Finch came out and shut it. "I don't think they'll come back. Going to the same place twice in one night isn't exactly the smartest thing to do." He smiled reassuringly at her, "I'll be alright. Don't worry." She nodded and she headed over to her apartment. Tintin did the same, pausing at the door, and then he turned around, "Did you just call me by my name?"

Juliet turned to face him, "Did I what?"

Tintin shook his head, "Never mind. Get some sleep." He opened the door and walked inside, Snowy eagerly walking and finding his doggie bed. Tintin paused again and looked back at Juliet, seeing just how pale she was looking. That might have been the first time she'd ever seen a dead man. He wasn't sure what kind of trauma was going through her mind, "Juliet." She looked back at him again, "If… If you're having any trouble getting to sleep… I-I know a good recipe for tea that tends to… relax a person."

Juliet was quiet for a moment, then she smiled softly at him, "Thank you. But, I think I'll be alright for tonight." Tintin nodded and she softly closed the door. He did the same to his own door, although his thoughts still lingered on Juliet. He went over to the kitchen cabinets, going through some of the piles and finding the tea he had told her about. He figured she must be pretty shocked about the whole shooting event. The least he could do was leave the tea for her in case she changed her mind. He grabbed the jar and went over to the door and as he opened it, Juliet was on the other side, her hand raised as if she was just about to knock. They were frozen for a moment, staring at each other, and then she gave him a sheepish smile, "I-I changed my mind about the tea…"

"I thought you might." Tintin said, he held out the jar to her, "There's a… certain way to prepare it. Would you like me to show you?"

"Yes, please." Juliet said, "I have a kettle and some cups in my apartment." Tintin nodded and he followed her out. He glanced back at Snowy before he left, seeing that he was sleeping soundly in his little bed. He smiled at the sight of it and quietly closed the door. When he stepped inside Juliet's apartment, he saw that there were still a good number of unpacked boxes lying around, but most of them had already been emptied. The furniture was set out neatly enough. Her apartment was the same size as his, so he didn't mind the slightly enclosed spaces. He watched her move through the kitchen, getting out a silvery tea kettle and a pair of porcelain cups. Delicate blue birds had been painted on the whiteness of the cups, making them stand out. "Um, I'm afraid I don't really have much in terms of cream… I-It went bad the other day."

"It's alright." Tintin said, "I don't really like cream in my tea." Juliet nodded, turning on the stove, and turning to him.

"What kind of tea is it?" Juliet asked.

"Oh." Tintin held up the small jar that contained little wrapped balls of herbs, "It's called blooming tea. I got it from a nobleman in China, it really is something to see, and it's very helpful in getting someone to sleep."

Juliet nodded, giving the little balls an odd look, but not saying anything against it. "So… How do you prepare it?" She asked.

"Oh, well, the first thing you want is to make sure you've heated the water." Tintin said, placing the kettle on the stove. He went on about how to prepare it, providing Juliet with a welcome distraction than the shooting a few moments ago. Once he was finished telling her about that, she asked him about how he came to get it from his friend, which turned into Tintin starting up a tale of one of his many adventures. Juliet listened intently as Tintin wove an intricate story, telling about how he helped the nobleman retrieve a family heirloom, a jade butterfly statue, and all about the nobleman's brother who wanted to sell the heirloom for its historic value. By the time he had reached the end of his story, the kettle started whistling, signaling that the water was ready. Tintin took the pot off of the stove, turning it off while Juliet went over to the table, dropping one tea ball in each cup before the water was poured in. Tintin came over to her with the kettle and smiled warmly at her, "Are you ready to see why it's called blooming tea?"

Juliet nodded and Tintin poured the water into the cup. Juliet watched as the tea ball slowly opened up, and she gasped when she saw the herbs in the cup creating a flower-like image in the water. "Oh, it's lovely." She breathed.

Tintin smiled and did the same to his cup while Juliet took a careful sip of the tea. She sighed happily when she swallowed it down, "I take it you like the taste as well?" He asked. She nodded, smiling up at him. He returned it and sat down in the chair he had taken. The couple sipped at the tea for a few silent moments, during which time they realized just how _exhausted_ they both were. Juliet could feel the circles forming under her eyes, and Tintin was tempted to close his own, but he didn't. They both sat there, sipping at the foreign tea, thinking over all that had happened that day.

In a soft voice, Juliet asked, "Do you think he had a family…?"

Tintin looked up at her, seeing her gaze was focused on the tea cup before her. He was quiet for a moment before saying, "It's very possible… I don't like to dwell on that sort of thing." He sipped at his tea again.

"Why not?" Juliet looked up at him. Tintin wouldn't meet her eyes.

"This isn't the first time I've been in a situation like this." Tintin said, "It's… It's best not to think about it. It only depresses you."

"But isn't it kind of important to think about?" Juliet asked.

"I… I don't know." Tintin said honestly, "I prefer to just… think of it as it happened. I don't enjoy dwelling on past events unless they're relevant to what's happening today."

"Oh." Juliet said softly. Tintin glanced up at her, seeing how depressed she looked, her hands going over the edge of her skirt, where he could see a little of the man's blood had stained through the purple fabric.

He put his cup down, "Juliet, I'm going to tell you something I've never told to anyone else." She looked up at him curiously, "The first time I ever got into one of these adventures… and I saw a man being shot…" He looked up at her, his face flushing a little, "I almost soiled myself."

Juliet's eyes widened, "…What?"

"Don't you dare tell another soul about this." Tintin said seriously, looking up at her, "If you do, I will deny it outright."

A small smile came to Juliet's face, "You… You _soiled_ yourself?"

"_Almost_ soiled myself." Tintin corrected fiercely. Juliet giggled a little and Tintin's flush grew, "Please don't laugh."

"I-I'm not laughing." She said, trying to stop, although she was unsuccessful in holding her smile back. Tintin sighed, covering his face with his hands. "I'm sorry… Just… the idea of someone like _you_ doing something like _that_…"

"It wasn't exactly my proudest moment." Tintin admitted, "And don't you _dare_ breathe a word of this to anyone."

"I won't, I won't." Juliet promised, shaking her head. Tintin sighed in relief and she sat back in her chair, taking another sip of her tea. There was a moment of silence between the two of them again, reminding them both of how tired they were. Juliet looked up at Tintin, "I… I really appreciate you bringing me this tea… I feel a bit better." Her hands were shaking a little around the cup.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Juliet shrugged, "I think I am. I still feel a bit… numb."

"That's normal." Tintin said, "It really is best not to dwell on it. I'm sure the men at Interpol will look into his death and tell his family and everything. You don't really have anything to worry about."

"I know, but…" Juliet bit her lip, "Just… When he tried to speak, he looked so _desperate_ to tell me something. I just wish I knew what he wanted to say."

"What did he try to say?" Tintin asked. Juliet shook her head.

"I couldn't make it out." She looked up at him, "It was kara-something or other. Maybe it was the name of his wife."

"I didn't see a wedding ring on him."

"Girlfriend. I don't know." Juliet sighed, leaning on the table, putting her head in her hands. "I feel like I should have listened better… It must have been important." Tintin reached out across the table, taking her hands in his and pulling them away from her face. He could see the tears starting to fill her emerald eyes and he held her hands, giving her a reassuring smile.

"It's alright. We still have that newspaper. I'll look over it and see what he was trying to say." He squeezed her hands, "His last message won't go unnoticed. I promise." Juliet gave him a small smile, a tear slipping out of her eye and down her cheek. She reached up to wipe it away with the back of her hand.

"S-Sorry, I just…" She trailed off. Tintin nodded.

"It's okay, I understand." He held her other hand in both of his while she wiped at her eyes. She squeezed back, silently thanking him for the comfort he was offering.

* * *

**And a little bit of fluffiness there brought on by the trauma of watching a man get shot. That sounds really morbid now that I think about it...**

**Oh, well. I hope you all enjoyed it, and please review!**


	5. A Pickpocket

5

Tintin slowly awoke to the smell of coffee wafting through the air. He took in a deep breath, enjoying the scent before opening his eyes, looking up at the ceiling. He glanced over at where his wall clock was, and found that it wasn't there. His brow furrowed and he took in his surroundings. Boxes lay here and there on the floor surrounding furniture he wasn't familiar with. For a moment, Tintin thought something bizarre had happened, but then the events from the previous night came rushing back to him. The American man, whose name they still didn't know, was shot on the doorstep of his apartment building. Juliet had been with him for his last moments and she had been in a state of shock for a while. There was blooming tea, and he had just been so tired… What had happened after that? He had been so exhausted that he almost started falling asleep at the table. That was what he last remembered, anyway.

"Good morning." He looked up to see Juliet smiling at him. He blushed a little when he realized she was in a nightgown and a thin robe, although it did cover her up for the most part. "You woke up a little sooner than I thought you would."

Tintin yawned, stretching out his arms, "What time is it?"

"About nine in the morning." Juliet said, "I got up a little while ago." She walked over to him, carrying two steaming mugs in her hands from the kitchen. She held one out to him, "Coffee?"

"Yes, thank you." Tintin said, reaching up and taking the mug from her, sipping at the beverage. He looked to see he was sitting on Juliet's couch, still dressed in yesterday's clothes, a blanket over his legs. "…Did I sleep on your couch?"

"Yes." Juliet nodded, "I wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of just letting you sleep at the table, so I brought you over here. You're a surprisingly heavy sleeper, you know."

Tintin was quiet for a moment. He took another sip of the hot coffee, and then looked up at Juliet. "Thank you… For letting me stay the night." He pushed himself to stand, taking a gulp of the drink that burned his tongue a little, but he felt significantly more awake than before, "I should get back to my apartment. If Snowy's awake, he's probably wondering where his food is."

"I understand." Juliet said with a nod. Tintin nodded and he head towards the door, "And kid?" He turned around, "Thank you… for last night. I really needed that tea." She blushed a little and he could feel his cheeks warming as well.

"Yes. Well… You're welcome." He turned back to the door and walked across the hall to his apartment. He had left the door unlocked, thinking he was only going to be at Juliet's long enough to finish the tea. He never expected to spend the night with her! He shook his head to try and get rid of the thoughts that just entered his mind. He didn't mean it like _that_! No, it was just two friends enjoying some nice tea late at night together. Nothing more.

He went inside and Snowy eagerly greeted him, jumping up and barking at him. "Yes, good morning, Snowy." The little terrier went over to his food dish and let out a whine, "Yes, I know, I'm sorry. I didn't expect to stay at Juliet's for so long." He went over to where the dog food was and quickly poured it into his bowl. Snowy started chowing down right away. Once Tintin was finished with that, he went to go and get prepared for the day.

* * *

"The victim's name was Barnaby Dawes." Thomson said, "He was one of the top agents at Interpol. But we haven't got a clue what he was working on."

Tintin looked up at the identical detectives, still looking over the bloody newspaper. They had come in response to the shooting of the man, and since they were acquaintances of his, they were more than willing to come and speak with him. They had arrived just after Tintin had finished getting ready for the day. Juliet, who had been called over because she was a witness, stood just behind Tintin dressed in a long-sleeved white blouse and a dark blue, knee-length skirt. Her red hair was let down, hanging at her shoulders while the two men went on about the case they had just been assigned.

"Quite right, Thomson." Thompson said, "We're completely clueless."

"Interpol doesn't have any other leads?" Tintin asked as Thompson walked around behind him, surveying the damage of his apartment that he had yet to clean up (He planned on doing it later).

"Steady on, Tintin. We're still filling out the paperwork!" Thompson said.

"Police work's not all glamor and guns. There's an awful lot of filing." Thomson said, walking around Tintin to join Thompson. Tintin took a pencil out from behind his ear, looking over the letters on the newspaper.

"Well, I might have something for you." He said, "Before he lost consciousness, Dawes tried to tell Juliet something, I think he was spelling out a word." He looked over the paper again, going over each letter from left to right and top to bottom from each row. He had already written "K A R A" from Juliet's description of what he had been trying to speak to her, "B-O-U-D-J-A-N." He wrote the word at the top of the paper and held it out, "Karaboudjan."

"Karaboudjan!" Thompson repeated, taking the newspaper from Tintin's hands, looking over it. Tintin and Juliet's eyes widened. Was this a lead?

"Does that mean something to you?" Juliet asked.

"Great Scotland Yard! That's extraordinary!" Thompson exclaimed, getting Tintin, Thomson, and Juliet to rush over to him.

"What is?" Tintin asked excitedly, eager to hear what the word meant.

"Worthington's having a half-price sale on bowler hats!" He pointed to the advertisement on the paper. Tintin let out an exasperated breath, rolling his eyes. Of course _that_ would be the first thing he saw.

"Really, Thompson!" Thomson snatched the paper out of his hands and stepped forward, "This is hardly the time." He looked over the paper and gasped, "Great Scotland Yard!" Again, the three of them rushed over to him, hoping this time his discovery was relevant to their conversation.

"What is it?" Thompson asked.

"Canes are half-price, too!" Thomson said. Tintin stepped between the two men, snatching the paper out of Thomson's hands.

"Are you going to take charge of this evidence?" He asked them.

"Positively." Thompson said, taking the paper from Tintin's hands as he made his way out of the apartment, "Never fear, Tintin. The evidence is safe with us." He turned the corner, his foot knocking against the cat from yesterday, making it yowl, its claws grabbing into the carpet of the stairs, giving it a solid ground to hold onto while Thompson tripped over it and fell down the stairs with a cry. Snowy barked and the cat dashed off again, not eager to relive yesterday's episode. Snowy didn't chase after it this time. Tintin, Juliet and Thomson went to the door, looking for the detective.

"Thompson? Where are you?" Thomson called out.

"Oh, well I'm already downstairs!" Thompson called back, "Do try to keep up." Thomson sighed and followed his partner down the stairs as Juliet and Tintin shared a concerned glance.

"Are you _sure_ these two are the ones to ask for help on this?" She asked.

"They're a little… bumbling, but they're good men." Tintin said, "They have access to information I don't, and I have the means to do what they can't do without a police warrant. I trust them."

"If you say so…" She mumbled. She looked out into the hall, letting out a small sigh as she bent down and picked up the bloody newspaper. She gave him a pointed look and he sighed.

"Like I said they're a little… careless." He said, reaching out and taking the paper, heading down the stairs.

"I'll see you later, Tintin." Juliet said, heading back to her apartment to prepare for her job that started later that day.

"Wait!" Tintin called out to the two of them before they headed out into the foggy morning street. He held out the paper to Thompson, "You dropped this."

"Good heavens, Thompson! Look after the evidence, man!" Thomson berated his partner as he took the paper, folding it under his arm.

"Sorry, Thomson. My mind is on other things." He replied.

"Ah, yes." Thomson nodded, "Our light-fingered larcenist."

"What?" Tintin looked at the pair in confusion.

"The pickpocket." Thomson specified.

"Oh."

"He has no idea what's coming." Thomson gave a knowing smile to Thompson, who returned it as he turned to Tintin, opening up his coat to show the pocket where he kept his wallet.

"Go on, Tintin. Take my wallet." He said. Tintin humored the man, reaching in his pocket and pulling the wallet out, but found a red elastic had been wrapped around it and attached to the inside of the coat pocket. Thompson smiled, beaming with pride at his ingenious way of finding the pickpocket, "Yes. Industrial strength elastic."

"Very resourceful." Tintin said as he put the wallet back as Thompson stepped outside to join his partner.

"On the contrary, it was childishly simple." Thompson said.

"Simply childish. I agree." Thomson said.

The men both tipped their hats to the young journalist, "Tintin."

"Gentlemen." Tintin said with a nod, bidding them goodbye as they walked down into the fog. A man followed behind them and Snowy recognized the scent of the thief he had seen the other day. The conversation from the two men carried from the street as the man walked behind them.

"Mind you, I expect he's miles away by now."

"I assume you're referring to the pickpocket."

"Yes! I mean, knowing we're just a few steps behind him?"

Snowy growled, following the man for a few steps until Tintin went after him, "Snowy. What is it, boy? What do you see?" He asked, the dog only growled at the third man, who was soon lost to Tintin's sight in the fog.

"I don't suppose you fancy a cup of tea?" Thomson asked.

"Oh, you're quite mistaken. I'd love one." Thompson replied as the pickpocket came closer and closer, quickly reaching into Thompson's coat and grabbing his wallet, unaware of the elastic wrapped around it as he turned around to start running, "My treat— _Oh!_" He was cut off when he suddenly felt himself pulled back and turned to see a man was holding his elastic-wrapped wallet. The pickpocket stopped when he realized he couldn't go any further because something held onto the wallet, and he saw it was attached to the coat.

"Ah-ha! I've got you now!" Thompson cried. The pickpocket immediately released the wallet, which came snapping back in Thompson's face. The wallet flew up in the air as Thomson started to chase after the running pickpocket, not realizing that his cane got caught on the wallet elastic.

"What the devil?!" He kept running, dragging his partner behind him, "Stop! In the name of the law!" Thompson's feet skidded across the sidewalk until Thomson tugged on the elastic, snapping it off of his cane and right back in Thompson's face, hitting him so hard he fell over. Thomson reached out and grabbed the pickpocket by the collar of his coat. "Got you!" He had him now! However, the pickpocket was a quicker thinker than he realized, and he started to slip out of his coat, leaving it to fly in Thomson's face, blocking his view as he ran straight into a street pole, knocking him down while the pickpocket ran on.

Tintin, who hadn't seen any of this – only heard the noise – looked curiously down the street, growing a little suspicious. "What's going on down there?" He got up and started to run over to where Thomson and Thompson were. He passed by another man who seemed to trip on a stone and bumped into him.

"Oh, I do beg your pardon." He said to Tintin with a small smile that he took as apologetic.

"Sorry, sir." Tintin said as he went to where Thomson sat in front of the lamppost, urgently pointing his cane at the man he had just run into.

"The pickpocket, Tintin! He's getting away!" He cried.

Tintin's eyes widened. "My wallet…!" He reached for his back pocket for his wallet, but it wasn't there. "It's gone!" He had not only just lost all of the money that had been in there, but more importantly, he just lost the scroll from the mast of the _Unicorn_! He turned around with wide eyes to see the pickpocket leisurely making his way across the street. He quickly started running after him, "Come on! Snowy, after him!" Snowy barked and growled, running beside his master. Tintin called out to the pickpocket, "Stop! Wait!" He ran out into the street, and when he saw headlights shining through the fog, he dove back. The car honked loudly at him and he stood back up, just barely avoiding another car. He stepped out of the way, and almost got ran over by another car! Snowy barked at the cars that almost ran him over, the cars all swerving to avoid the boy and his dog. Tintin got confused, and was no longer sure which way the pickpocket had gone, and he would have continued to stumble around, if a cane had not reached through the fog and hooked onto his arm while a second hooked onto Snowy and pulled them in to the safety of the sidewalk.

"Gotcha!" Thomson said with a smile, patting Tintin's shoulder.

"Steady on!" Thompson said, putting Snowy down on the ground.

Tintin's eyes were still wide, his chest rapidly rising and falling with his quickened breath. "I've lost him…" He turned to Thomson and Thompson, "You _must_ find my wallet. It's very important! I have to get it back!"

"And you _will_." Thomson assured him. "Leave it to the professionals."

The two men then left and Tintin made his way back to his apartment, not really aware of the three men that had come from a van, stopping outside of his home just as Juliet had finished getting ready for her next job, having put her hair up in a professional bun, still wearing the skirt and a pair of flat shoes. A blue coat was on her shoulders, and she stopped, backing up a few steps when she saw the three men looking around the apartment building.

Tintin spoke to Snowy as they made their way back, "We've lost the scroll, but we haven't lost the story!" He said, he tapped thoughtfully at his chin, "Karaboudjan. That's an Armenian word. That's our lead, Snowy. What was Dawes trying to tell us when he said our lives were in danger…?" He stepped into the doorway, but his path was blocked by a man in the foyer as two men came up behind him, carrying a large box.

"Mr. Tin…Tin?" He asked, getting his attention.

"Yes." He nodded.

The man smiled, "Delivery for ya." Tintin turned around to face the box confusedly.

"But I didn't order anything." He said.

"Well, that's 'cause it's _you_," He pressed a handkerchief to Tintin's face as the two men opened the box. "That's getting' delivered!" Tintin struggled against the temptation of unconsciousness that the sweet-smelling rag provided, but he did feel the strength leaving his limbs, and that was enough to get the men to push him into the box, closing it up. Snowy growled, barked, and snarled at the men, but they ignored him. "Quick, get him in the van!" In retaliation, he jumped up and bit down on the rear of the nearest man. He let out a cry and Snowy dropped off, going to bite his legs. The man lifted his leg and kicked him back into the foyer of the apartment building, "Confounded mutt!" He slammed the door shut and Snowy growled, jumping up against the door.

Juliet, who had hung back during the entire escapade, ran down the stairs just as Snowy realized he wouldn't be able to open the door himself and ran back up to Tintin's apartment. Juliet swung the door open just as the van sped off.

"Tintin!" She cried. She gasped when a fire truck carrying a set of ladders on top drove by, Snowy standing precariously on them. Juliet ran out into the street in front of the car behind it. It screeched to a halt. Lucky for her, it was a taxi.

The driver stuck his head out the window as she rushed to the open seat, "What the 'ell are you doin'?!"

She jumped into the car, "I'll give you fifty pounds if you follow that van!" She pointed to the one in front of the fire truck. The cabby needed to hear no more as he sped off and started driving after the van. He looked up curiously at the car in front of them as Snowy rode along, but said nothing, when the car suddenly stopped, the ladder of the fire truck was pushed forward, and Snowy went with it. He dangled off of the edge, just in front of the car that had kidnapped Tintin. He dropped down onto the hood of the car and started barking furiously at the men inside. The car swerved left and right, trying to shake him off. They succeeded, flinging him off on the side of the road, narrowly avoiding being run over by another car. As the taxi that carried Juliet sped by, she looked worriedly at the terrier as he ran towards a moving bicycle that carried a small cart behind it and he jumped in. Juliet noticed that they were both headed for the docks, and she knew the taxi service wouldn't be allowed to go there. She told the cabby to stay on that van for as long as it could. Snowy, also realizing that his mode of transportation was too slow, jumped out of the cart and onto a fence that kept in a few dozen cows for transport somewhere. He saw the van whizzing by on the other side of the fence and he barked, jumping into the boundaries of the fence and onto the head of a cow.

The cow's head bent forward and the one in front of it, seeming displeased, reached back and bucked at it, shooting Snowy up into the air and down onto the ground. He pushed himself to his feet, finding his view blocked by a cow udder for a moment. The sudden udder bump caused the cow he was under to let out a "moo!" He ran under the udders of a few more cows, all of them letting out calls once their udders were touched and soon Snowy was on the other side of the fence. He ran out to where they were loading the crate that carried Tintin onto a boat. He barked at them before looking around, searching for a way onto the boat.

The taxi that Juliet was in eventually came to a stop outside the dock entrance, "Sorry, luv, can't go no further." He said.

"It's fine. Here." She said, quickly throwing the cabby the money she promised and running out of the car. She saw the ship that they were taking Tintin in and she ran towards the loading dock. Unfortunately, she didn't go unnoticed and one of the kidnappers grabbed her by the arm before she could go anywhere. She let out a shriek when he grabbed her other arm.

"Well, what do we have here?" One man asked.

"Let me _go_!" She cried, struggling fiercely against him.

"I know that one!" The other man said, "She's that Ryder girl. We were supposed to pick her up after the other one."

"Ah, looks like you just saved us a trip, sweetheart." The man holding her said. She glared hatefully at him.

"I'm _not_ your _sweetheart_!" She slammed her heel down on his boot. He let out a cry of pain, releasing her and she ran towards the loading docks, her eyes never leaving the crate that Tintin was in as it was moved over to the starboard side of the ship. One of the crew members of the ship, realizing where she was headed, grabbed her by her middle, swinging her up onto his shoulder.

"Whoa there!" He said. Juliet let out a cry and struggled against him.

"_No_! Put me _down_!" She shrieked, her shrill voice catching the attention of the other people on the docks. She kicked her feet wildly, pounding her fists against his back as hard as she could.

"Ricky! Hold onto her." The other two men from before came rushing over to Ricky, one of them grabbing a handkerchief, the same that had been used on Tintin and pressed it to her face. She let out a muffled cry, trying not to give in to the sweet scent, but her body slowly did so against her will and she found herself slumping over Ricky's shoulder. One of the men was saying something aloud for the others at the docks to hear, giving some kind of excuse as to why she was acting like this, but she couldn't make it out. Her eyes traveled to the name of the ship, engraving it in her mind. _Karaboudjan_.

_That's what… he was trying to tell me…_ She thought as she slowly slipped into the darkness of unconsciousness.


	6. The Karaboudjan

6

Tintin slowly started to come to, his head was still a bit fuzzy, and he could feel himself being jostled around, hands that weren't his sticking into the pockets of his trousers, patting him down. His eyes slowly opened and he saw two men, both of them being part of the team that kidnapped him.

"It's not here. Look on your side." The first man said.

"Hang on." The other one put his hand in Tintin's back pocket, and then pulled it back out, shaking his head, "Nothing."

"Well, check that pocket, Tom." The first man said.

"I've looked in this one already, I'm sure of it."

Tintin slowly started to take in his surroundings. He was sitting up against a metal wall made of bars. Looking around him he saw it was a cage of some sort. He tried to move his hands, but found that they had been bound. In the corner of the cage opposite him sat Juliet, seeming to be in the same predicament. Her bun looked a little messy and her clothes slightly wrinkled. They must have searched her before they searched him.

"Then have a look in his socks!" The first man said, he and the other man continuing their search for something on Tintin's person.

"Have you found it?" A voice asked from behind him.

"He doesn't have it." The first man said.

"It's not on 'im, boss. It's not here." Tom said.

"Not here?!" Tintin recognized the angry tone of Sakharine's voice, "Then where is it?!"

"Where's what?" Tintin asked. He jumped when something suddenly banged against the bars of the cage he was leaning against, turning to see it was Sakharine's cane that had knocked against them.

"Oh, I grow tired of your games." Sakharine said, stepping into the cage as Tom and the other man backed off, letting him in. Sakharine glared down at Tintin, "The scroll from the _Unicorn_!" He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small slip of paper, "A piece of paper like _this_!" Looking at it closely, Tintin could see that it was like the scroll he had had before, the paper yellowed with age and a poem written in elegant script.

"You mean the poem." It was more of a statement than a question.

Sakharine's eyes lit up when it seemed that Tintin was starting to understand him, "Yes." He replied calmly.

"The poem written in Old English." Tintin went on.

"Yes." Sakharine stood up, tucking his scroll back in his coat pocket, glancing at the two men who were realizing the same thing.

"It was inside a cylinder."

"Yes!"

"Concealed in the mast."

"_Yes_!"

Tintin couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face. "I don't have it."

Sakharine's excitement died and he whipped his cane out to the two men, who grabbed it and he pulled back, taking a concealed blade out from inside and pointing it at Tintin.

"You know the value of that scroll." He said, "Why else would you take it?"

Tintin's mind started rolling off, "Two ships. Two scrolls. Both part of a puzzle. You have one, you need the other, but that's not it…" He looked up at Sakharine, "There's something else."

Sakharine pulled his sword back and glared down at Tintin, getting his face closer to his so that his words would get across to the young man better, "I _will_ find it. With or without your help." His face took on a gentle look that Tintin knew was false. "You need to think about exactly how useful you are to me." He held up his sword and one of the men pushed the covering back on it and Sakharine stood up.

"And Miss Ryder." He turned to Juliet, who glared up at him, "After your first little escapade involving shoving your nose where it doesn't belong, I would have thought you learned better. Did your time in prison teach you nothing?"

"Bite me, old man!" She snapped.

"Sorry, you're not my type." Sakharine said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Blech." Juliet grimaced.

Sakharine and his men stepped through the cage, closing it shut as they headed out of the cargo room, "We'll deal with him on the way." He said as he walked through the door, the men unaware of a little white terrier that had found them.

"Aye-aye, sir." Tom said.

"Hold this course." Sakharine's voice faded down the hallway. Snowy looked up, seeing that a man was about to close the door and he quickly moved around him, jumping inside before he shut and locked it. He barked happily when he saw Tintin at the other end of the cargo room, catching the young pair's attention.

"Snowy!" Tintin exclaimed happily as the dog ran over, jumping up behind Tintin who kept smiling at him. "Oh, it's good to see you, too. See if you can chew through these ropes." Snowy let out an affirmative bark and bent down to where Tintin's hands were bound, starting to bite and pull at them with a little growl. When he was doing so, Tintin looked up at Juliet, "What are you doing here, Juliet? I thought you had left for your job."

"I was about to." Juliet said, "But then I saw them kidnapping you… I tried to stop them, I followed them. They ended up catching me and… well, here I am."

"You should have stayed behind." Tintin said, letting out a breath of relief when Snowy finally chewed through his ropes and his hands were free again. He got up, going over to Juliet and starting to tug at the ropes on her hands.

"And, what, just stand by and let them take you into Sakharine's ruthless hands?" Juliet asked, "I don't think so."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Juliet," Tintin said, pulling the ropes off of her hands, "But now you realize that we're both in danger here. And the fact that you and Sakharine have history only makes it worse."

"It does _not_." Juliet said.

"What was that about jail time?" Tintin asked pointedly.

Juliet rolled her eyes, "I wasn't even in that cell for twelve hours, I hardly think that constitutes as jail time."

"What did you even do?"

"Sakharine caught me trespassing. I was seventeen when it happened, so I just got community service."

"Seventeen…" Tintin glanced over at her, "How old are you now?"

"I turned eighteen last month." _The same age as me..._ Tintin thought. They went to the front door of the cage, finding that it was unlocked and pushed through it. Tintin looked around the cargo space, finding a crow bar and taking it over to the door, jamming it through the gears. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure the door doesn't open." He replied.

"Don't we _want_ the door to open?" Juliet asked.

"If Sakharine is ruthless like you said, there's a good chance he's sending those men back down to us." Tintin said, grabbing the top of a wooden box and putting it against the window of the door. "This should at least hide our escape attempt." He looked over at the windows at the side of the cargo room. "If we just run out into the hall, it'll be too easy to catch us."

"But the boat's set sail already, we're out at sea!" Juliet said, "How are we going to escape?"

Tintin went over to one of the boxes, jumping back when a small growl sounded from the insides. He put his fears aside and pushed the box to the wall, getting on top of it and opening the window. He could smell the salt from the sea as he poked his head out into the dark night. He heard the sound of an off-tune shanty being sung and looked up, seeing another open port window. He looked back to Juliet.

"We're going to climb out."

* * *

"Oh, he's lying! He must have the scroll." Sakharine said as he and the crew members walked up on deck, heading for the radio room, "The question is: What has he done with it?"

"We searched him all over, Boss!" Tom said.

Sakharine opened the door to the radio room, looking back at the two crew men, "I want you to go down there and make him talk. Break every bone in his body if you have to! And if that doesn't work, do the same to his girlfriend and kill her!"

"Oh, that's nasty." Tom said with a grimace.

"You know the stakes, you know what we're playing for, just do it!" Sakharine was about to head inside, when a third voice called out to him.

"Sakharine! Mister Sakharine!" Another crew member came running up to him, "All hell has broken loose! It's a disaster! The captain has come around!"

"What?!" Sakharine's eyes widened.

"He's conscious. He's accusing you of mutiny. He says you turned the crew against him."

"Sounds like he's sobered up again!" One of the crew men said.

"Well don't just stand there, get him another bottle." Sakharine said before heading into the radio room, leaving it at that while the men went to do as they were told.

"Sí, señor."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

"_Climb_ out?" Juliet's eyes widened, "Are you mad?"

"There's an open window on the floor above us." Tintin said, jumping down from the box. They jumped when they heard the door creaking and voices on the other side.

"Jiggle it a bit. It's just stuck."

"Jiggle?"

"Yeah."

The door creaked a few times again.

"What are you doing? Get off! It's not stuck, you idiot. He's barred it from the inside!" He raised his voice so he could be heard clearly through the door, "You want to play like that, do you, Tintin?! Get the TNT." Juliet's eyes widened and she shared a fearful glance with Tintin. He took a deep breath and looked around the cargo room.

"Broken crates… rope… champagne…" He sighed, "What else do we have?" He looked over at Juliet, "Do you have bobby pins in your hair?" He gestured to her disheveled bun. She nodded, tucking some stray locks behind her ear.

"A few." She said.

"Okay, we need to work fast." He held out his hand, "Give me a few of them, and when that's done push the champagne boxes toward the door." Juliet reached up, taking out most of the bobby pins that kept her hair back, although the bun itself was held up by a rubber band.

"I don't see how a bunch of bottles are going to bar them from getting in." She said as she dropped them into his hand.

"They won't." Tintin said, going over to a crate and yanking off a pair of wooden boards with a grunt, "But it will provide a distraction that might give us enough time to get away." They heard something bang against the door and Tintin took in a sharp breath, knowing that they must be setting up a brace against the door so it won't blow off in the direction of the crew. He turned to her, "Hurry!"

"Oh! Okay!" Juliet ran towards the open champagne boxes, turning them so the tops of the bottles would be facing the door while Tintin grabbed some rope, wrapping it around the two planks, using the bobby pins to hold them in place.

"There are other ways to open this door." She could hear the crew men speaking from the other side, "They'll be swabbing the decks with your innards when we're done with you!" She bit down on her lip and started working faster as Tintin moved his upper body out of the porthole window, swinging the planks around to gain velocity before shooting them up at the window above them. Juliet, having moved the last of the champagne boxes to the door, came up to him, looking worriedly at the door. The first shot didn't make it, hitting Tintin on the head. He let out a groan, but he didn't let that stop him as he swung the planks around again, moving a little faster and releasing it, watching it shoot up and through the window. He tugged on it to make sure it was secure, and then he slipped his body out. He kept his feet against the hull of the boat, holding his hand out to Juliet.

"Come on!" He said urgently. Juliet scooped Snowy up in her arms and jumped up onto the crate, reaching through the window and taking his hand that led her onto the rope and grabbing onto it, handing him his dog. She let out a shriek when she heard the explosion from the TNT finally blow the door open and she held onto the rope for dear life. She could hear the sound of gunfire as she and Tintin started to climb up the rope.

"Why are they shooting?" She asked Tintin in a loud whisper, hoping he could hear her over the crashing waves beneath them.

"It's the champagne bottles." Tintin said, his voice in that same loud whisper. "The explosion created enough pressure to pop all the corks. They think it's gunfire."

"Oh." Juliet murmured, "That's clever."

"Thank you." Tintin said. Juliet smiled.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you."

They kept climbing up the rope, Tintin pushing Snowy through the porthole first, hoping he could find something to land on. He did, and barked at the only other occupant of the room as Tintin climbed in, helping Juliet up. The dog's barks frightened the man and he jumped up from his seat, his head going through the bottom of a bird cage.

"Aaah! The giant rat of Sumatra!" He cried as he looked at Snowy. He looked towards the window as Tintin helped Juliet through, holding onto her skirt as she climbed in. He glared at the two of them, grabbing a telescope and wielding it like a weapon. "Aha! So you thought you could sneak in behind me and catch me with my trousers down, huh?!" He stepped closer to Tintin, who grabbed a hooked rod and brought that up to block the blow from the telescope as the man swung it forward.

"I'd rather you kept your trousers on, if it's all the same to you!" He replied. The man growled angrily, swinging the telescope at him again and again, denting the thing out of shape each time.

"I know your game! You're one of them!" He cried.

"Sorry?" Tintin asked.

"They sent you here to kill me, huh?!" The man swiped at him again. Tintin ran underneath him and jumped up onto a trunk to gain some kind of higher ground.

"Look, I don't know who you are!" He said.

"That's how he's planned to bump me off!" The man continued, glaring at Tintin and Juliet, "Murdered in my bed by a baby-faced assassin and his scarlet-haired accomplice!" He swiped at Tintin again and again and Juliet ran forward, grabbing the man's arms and pulled them back as Snowy ran at the man's foot and bit down, snarling at him.

"Assassin?!" Tintin repeated.

"No, you've got it all wrong!" Juliet said. The man paused for a moment, looking at the two of them, "We were kidnapped, by a gang of thugs." To show that he meant the man no harm, Tintin dropped the hooked rod onto the nearby desk. The telescope the man had been holding broke off, falling to the floor. He let out a sob and Juliet stepped back to give him some space.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way." He said brokenly, "He's turned the whole crew against me!" He angrily threw the now-curved telescope down onto the floor and leaned against the table.

"Who?" Tintin asked.

"A sour faced man with a sugary name." The man said, "He's bought them all off, every last man." Tintin looked to the desk, seeing all the piles of files that rested on it and started going through them to get some kind of clue to a map or what the plan for this voyage might be.

"Sakharine." Juliet spat out the name with a scowl.

The man looked up at her, his face full of rage, "_Nobody_ takes _my_ ship!" He growled.

"You're the captain?" Tintin asked, turning to face him.

"Of course I'm the captain. Who else could I be?" The man asked loudly. Tintin shushed him. He looked through some of the files, seeing nothing that could really be of use to him and he picked up the hooked rod from before, nodding to Juliet to indicate that they should head for the door, "I've been locked in this room for days," The captain picked up an empty bottle, watching the last drop of the drink slip out through the opening, "With only whiskey to sustain my mortal soul." As she looked around, Juliet noticed there were dozens of empty whiskey bottles lying about. They were on his bed, on his desk. Some had even been hung up from the ceiling, although she assumed he'd emptied those a _long_ time ago.

Tintin reached for the door handle, expecting it to stop halfway, but it turned completely and he was able to pull the door open. The two people looked back at the captain, who looked at the open door, seeming vaguely surprised.

"Oh... Well, I _assumed_ it was locked." He said, standing up straight.

Tintin and Juliet sighed, thinking there was no way this drunken man was going to be able to help them. "Now, you must excuse us. If they find us here, they'll kill us." He poked his head out to make sure the way was clear. Snowy had already started moving through the hall, waiting for his master to join him, "We have to keep moving."

"Yes, try and find our way off of this drunken tub." Juliet said, eyeing the captain's disheveled form as she stepped out of the room, Tintin just behind her, closing the door.

"Tub? Tub?!" The captain repeated angrily as they shut the door, slamming his empty bottle down on the table.

The pair started down the hall, but stopped when they saw one of the crewmen rounding the corner, carrying a tray with a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. He froze once he saw the two of them for a split second, then he dropped the tray and moved to hit Tintin. He reacted faster and used the hooked rod to knock his hand away. Tintin swung at him a second time, and he ducked down, punching Tintin in his gut, knocking the wind out of him and pushing him to the wall, his hand moving towards his neck.

Inside the room, the captain pondered the words that the girl had used to describe his ship. "Tub?" He repeated.

Juliet ran at the man, yanking his arm back and hitting him across the face as hard as she could. This man didn't have any qualms about fighting women, and he hit back, pushing her hard against the wall. She gasped, holding her side while Tintin went back to grappling with the man, Snowy biting at every bit of skin he could.

The captain still thought about that word and about his ship. His precious, beloved, magnificent ship. "_Tub?_!" That girl had dared to call his incredible ship a _tub_?!

The captain swung open the door of his room, seeing the man that was grappling with Tintin and punched that man in the face. The man released Tintin, knocked back by the force of the hit. He stumbled forward to try and get himself together, and the captain slammed the door on him, ensuring his unconsciousness. Tintin reached up and caught the man before he fell to the ground.

"Thanks." He said.

"Pleasure." The captain replied. The man fell forward and the captain grabbed his shoulders while Tintin grabbed his feet. Juliet came up and joined the two as they put the man down on the floor.

"I'm Tintin, by the way. And this is Juliet." He introduced, holding out his hand.

"Haddock. Archibald Haddock." The captain said, his name instantly striking a chord with the young pair. He went over to where a hat rested on top of a scuba helmet and put it on his head, "There's a longboat up on deck, follow me."

"Hang on a second…" Tintin turned around, looking at the captain with wide eyes, "Did you say Haddock?"

* * *

**Ta-da! New chapter! I hope you all liked it and please review!**

**On a side note: Today is MY BIRTHDAY! :D I am now 20 years old!**


	7. Captain Haddock

7

The group moved through the hall as quietly as they could, keeping an eye out for any crew members. With all that had been happening, Sakharine had most likely sent out the entire crew to search for them.

"We have to reach a locked door and the end of this corridor." Haddock said to them as they walked, keeping their backs to the walls. "This is gonna be tricky…"

"You wouldn't happen to be related the Haddocks of Marlinspike Hall, would you?" Tintin whispered, eager to get some answers after having found someone of that very name.

Captain Haddock turned to face him, "Why do you ask?"

"It's for a story I've been working on." They approached an opening that led down to another corridor. They could hear the voices of some of the crew members from the other side, calling to the others that they hadn't seen anything. Haddock darted to one side once the man who had been watching the opening left, but Tintin stayed as another man passed by "An old shipwreck that happened off the coast of Barbados. A man of war. Triple masted. Fifty guns." Haddock made the motion for him to move and he did, Juliet just behind him. They could hear the voices of some of the men passing by still. Once he was close enough, Haddock pushed Tintin up against the wall. His gaze a threatening one.

"What do you know of the _Unicorn_?" Haddock demanded.

"Not a lot." Tintin said honestly, "That's why I'm asking you." He looked at the man with wide eyes, wondering why he had suddenly become so defensive. Juliet looked worriedly between them.

"The secret of that ship is known only to _my_ family!" Haddock said, "It's been passed down from generation to generation. My granddaddy himself, with his _dying breath_, told me… the tale." He looked up, seeming to be reminiscing about the story.

Tintin looked at him urgently, wanting him to continue, "And?"

"Gone." Haddock said, his gaze turning back to Tintin.

Juliet looked at him oddly, "What do you mean 'gone'?"

"I was so upset when he kicked the bucket, I had no choice but to drown my sorrows." Haddock said, pulling away from Tintin and heading over to a door, "When I woke up in the morning it was gone. Forgotten it all."

"Everything?" Tintin asked, desperate to hear at least _one_ piece of this puzzle, as Haddock opened the door, revealing a set of stairs.

"Every last word." Haddock confirmed.

Tintin glanced down the corridor to make sure no one was around to follow them before he and Juliet moved to follow the captain. "Is there somebody else in your family? Maybe they would know." Tintin said as the man started up the stairs.

Captain Haddock, turning to face the pair, shook his head, "Sir Francis had three sons, all but my bloodline failed! I am the _last_ of the Haddocks."

Although this told them that this man couldn't remember the story, he had unknowingly given them another piece of the puzzle. Tintin could feel a smile growing on his face.

"Did you say three sons?" Tintin whispered excitedly.

The door at the top of the stairs opened and everyone ran underneath the stairs to hide as voices came down from above. "Let's check below."

"There is bottle of rum for man who find Haddock." The first man said, his Russian accent thick in his voice as he went down the stairs.

"And we kill the boy. I hope I find him first." The second man said. Snowy let out a growl when he heard this and Tintin covered his muzzle with his hand.

"What was that?" The second man poked his gun up the stairs as the third man was half-way down.

"Aah, you're hearing things." The third man said.

"Quiet, Ali." The second man snapped. The third one rolled his eyes.

"Forget the boy, what about the girl?" He said, "D'you think the boss man would let us have a bit of fun with her?" The second man grinned in a way that sent chills down Juliet's spine.

"Let's hope so." They laughed as they headed down the corridor, searching for Haddock, Tintin and Juliet. Once they were gone, the three of them headed up the stairs. As Tintin reached the top, his eyes widened when he realized something.

"I know what Sakharine's looking for." He murmured.

"What are you raving on about?" Haddock asked, turning to face him, leaving the door shut for a moment.

"It was written on the scroll." Tintin said excitedly, "_'Three brothers joined, three Unicorns in company. Sailing in the noonday sun will speak.'_"

"Really?" Haddock asked, looking a little uninterested.

"Sir Francis didn't make _two_ models of the Unicorn." Tintin said, his smile growing, "He made _three_!"

"I get it!" Juliet said, catching onto Tintin's excitement, "Three ships for three sons!"

"Exactly!" Tintin said.

"Excellent." Haddock said, and he stepped out of the door and moved down the corridor, Tintin and Juliet following him.

"Sakharine's after the third model ship!" Tintin said as Haddock went to the door, pulling at the handle, but it wouldn't budge.

"Barnacles!" He cursed, turning around, "Someone's locked the door."

"Well, is there a key?" Tintin asked urgently.

"A key? Ahhh…" His alcohol-soaked breath came wafting out of his mouth, and Tintin couldn't help but cough when he smelled it, "Yes, now that would be the problem." He walked around Tintin, putting his hand on Juliet's shoulder and pulling her along, "Come on." She walked with the captain while Tintin followed just behind, stumbling for a moment as he tried to get over the stench of alcohol. He was soon back to himself as they went down to another door, Haddock barely opening it wide enough so they could see it was the crew's quarters. "Mr. Jaggerman. Top bunk in the center." He pointed it out to them, "Keeper of the keys. Careful, lass, he's a restless sleeper on account of the tragic loss of his eyelids."

"He lost his _eyelids_?" Juliet asked, grimacing a little bit.

"Aye, now that was a card game to remember." Haddock said with a grin, "Oh, you really had to be there." He gently pushed Juliet forward and she sighed as she stepped in. "I-I'd do this myself, Juliet, but you've a lighter tread than either of us and less chance of waking the boys." Juliet glanced up at all the men, watching as they swayed off of their bunks with the sway of the ship, being careful to avoid any items on the floor.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tintin asked, glancing at the captain.

"She has nothing to worry about." Haddock assured him, "Provided they all stay asleep."

Juliet sighed, plucking up her courage as she went over to the bunk nearest the one where Mr. Jaggerman slept, starting to climb up the ladder.

"I wouldn't get too close to Mr. Hobbs." Haddock warned her from the door, pointing to the man sleeping just underneath Mr. Jaggerman. "He's very handy with the razor." She glanced at the man, seeing the razor in his hand as he snored. She continued climbing up. "And-and I'd steer clear of Mr. Gitch." He pointed to another man on another bunk on the other side of the one Juliet was climbing up, holding a rat in his hand as he slept, in a surprisingly tight grip, since it wasn't able to get away, "Sacked as a shepherd on account of his 'animal husbandry'."

Juliet's nose crinkled at the sound of it and she reached the top empty bunk. She crawled over to where Mr. Jaggerman's hand was outstretched, the keys just barely hanging off of it. She hung onto the edge of the empty bunk and cautiously leaned forward, biting down on her lip in her concentration as she reached out further and further, her fingertips just inches away from the keys. She stopped when she almost lost her balance and pulled back. Haddock grimaced at the sight of her almost falling and Tintin looked at her worriedly. He was about to step inside, but Haddock shook his head, telling him to stay here. Against his better judgment, he listened to the man as Juliet repositioned herself. She glanced up at the shark that hung on a set of chains between her bunk and Mr. Jaggerman's. She reached out, resting one hand against it as she pushed herself forward, reaching for the keys. She gasped when the shark suddenly gave way and she fell forward. She was about to land on Mr. Hobbs's bunk, but put her hands out to stop her from doing so and managed to slip into the empty bunk that was underneath the one that was underneath Mr. Hobbs's. Her fall had set off the balance of the other bunk, causing it to top over and push itself up against the other and one of the men came toppling on top of her.

Tintin gasped and Captain Haddock grimaced again, his hands going to his mouth. Both men were on the edge of their seats watching as Juliet pushed the man off of her. She looked up, seeing Mr. Jaggerman was now resting in the spot between the two pushed-together bunks and the keys were much closer than before. She almost had them, when another man came toppling down on her, pushing her off of the bunk she had landed on. That man was followed by another, and another, and finally the shark that had been on the ceiling. There was a moment of fearful silence between the two men, until they saw Juliet's hand pushing up through the pile of sailors, holding the keys in the air. Tintin let out a long sigh of relief while Haddock smiled, letting out a giddy, wheezing laugh, giving her a thumbs-up as she moved out from under the man-pile, her bun almost completely undone now, and walked over to the door, handing the keys to the captain.

"Oh, you're a brave Lass, Juliet." Haddock praised as he went down to the locked door. "My heart was in my mouth, I don't mind telling you."

"Are you alright?" Tintin asked as he and Juliet followed the captain to the door.

"Yes, I'm fine." She assured him as she reached up, releasing her hair from the rubber band she had put it in and letting it fall freely. Tintin gazed at the bright red waves of hair as they moved over her shoulders, surprised that they managed to catch some of the dim light that was in the hall.

Once Haddock had put the key in the lock, he turned back to the pair of them, "Well, that is, if it _was_ my heart. Judging by my stomach it could have been anything."

"_Hurry up, Captain_!" Tintin and Juliet spoke at the same time. They gave each other an odd glance before looking back at Haddock.

"We have no time to lose." Tintin said urgently.

Haddock pulled open the door, happily saying, "Bingo!" The room that was revealed to them was filled with all kinds of different rum and whiskey. "Just the necessities, of course." Juliet's mouth fell open at the sight of it. She had gone through _all_ of that so the drunken sea captain could get even more drunk? Haddock grabbed at a bunch of different whiskey bottles, shoving them in the pockets of his pants and his coat. He brought one bottle up to his lips and kissed it before turning around, "To the lifeboats."

Tintin and Juliet stared after the man, glancing at each other. Juliet looking very unsure about bringing the man along, while Tintin had a look that said getting off of this boat wasn't going to be easy. He was the first to go after Haddock and Juliet followed behind him. They were still wary about being caught by any crewmembers as they moved through the corridors. The captain deciding to get started on drinking a little before the boat, taking a bottle and gulping it down, neither of them really questioned his actions, mostly because they didn't have time.

They headed to the deck, and when Haddock opened the door, a gun-wielding man was just on the other side, his back turned to them. Tintin reached out and pulled the captain back just as the man said, "Watch yourself. The boss says he's a handful." The door was quickly and quietly shut. Tintin looked around, trying to see if there was anything he could use to knock out the man so they could move past him without arousing any attention. He looked around, seeing the bottle in Haddock's hands and he took it from him. Snowy let out a small whine and Tintin gently shushed him before opening the door again, bottle raised. The captain, not wanting to lose his whiskey, grabbed the bottle back from Tintin just as he was about to bring it down. Since he wasn't expecting it, he ended up hitting the man on the back of his head with his fist. He gasped pulling his hand back as the man fell to the floor, unconscious. He clenched his teeth as he waved his hand about, feeling very sore after hitting him that hard. He looked up at the captain, who was taking a swig of the bottle.

He pulled it away from his mouth, waving Tintin and Juliet to follow behind him, "Come on." He urged, walking around the corner. The young pair followed the captain as stealthily as they could down to the where the lifeboats were. Tintin and Captain Haddock worked on loosening the pulleys that held up one of the boats while Juliet kept a lookout for anyone that might see them. After the two men had loosened the boat and had pushed it out over the side, Juliet saw two forms walking along the upper deck. She hissed at Tintin and Haddock to get down and they did. It wasn't hard to find the two crewmen she had seen. Haddock recognized them right away. "It's Allan!"

"Is that the bridge?" Tintin asked.

"Aye, on the other side of the radio room." Haddock answered.

Tintin's eyes widened, seeing this as an excellent opportunity. He patted the man's shoulder as he stood up, "Wait here, Captain." He turned to Juliet, "Sound the alarm if anyone comes."

"What?" Juliet gasped, "Shouldn't we be escaping right now?!" She whispered to him, but he continued on. She huffed out a sigh and crossed her arms as she watched him go.

"Careful, Tintin." Haddock whispered as the boy headed up the stairs, keeping a close eye out for any other men. They could hear them on the other decks surrounding them.

"I can't see a thing!"

"Quit your whining and find those kids!"

"I didn't sign on for this!"

"He said keep searching!"

"Why is it that everyone keeps ignoring me?" Juliet complained quietly to the captain, who moved his hands to the rope to make sure that the boat would be ready to drop as soon as Tintin got back, "He's going to get us caught!"

"Don't you trust the boy?" Haddock asked as he loosened another rope.

"Well… I do." Juliet said, "…To a point. I don't know. I only met him yesterday."

"Lass, we've been at sea for a day and a half." Haddock said. Juliet's eyes widened.

"What? We have?" Haddock nodded, "How can you tell?"

"If I couldn't tell how long my own boat had been at sea, what kind of captain would I be?" Haddock asked, rolling his eyes.

"I… guess I can see your point there." Juliet murmured quietly. She didn't really question his expertise. He knew nautical navigation better than she did, after all. Her idea of time must have been distorted because of the drug they used to knock her out.

"Hold this." The captain said, handing her a rope. She did so, and almost lost her grip on it when she realized it was one of the ropes that held up the boat, but she didn't release it. Captain Haddock pulled on another rope that helped lighten the load. He kept looking out to the bridge, seeing no sign that Tintin was coming back. "Tintin?" He called into the darkness, hoping his voice didn't get heard by any of the crew.

The boat they were holding was jostled and they both looked to see a man had fallen asleep in the boat, a bottle of whiskey in his left hand and his right held a gun that was pointed at the both of them.

"Hey! Put your hands up!" He ordered. The captain did so without any qualms at all. Juliet let out a small squeal of surprise when the heavy boat was suddenly on her arms and the rope slipped from her grasp. The boat fell, taking the man with it. He screamed all the way down, his leg getting caught on the rope pulley, so he avoided falling overboard as the longboat floated away with the current.

"And let that be a lesson to you!" Captain Haddock called down to the man as he hung by his pant leg.

"Help me!" The man cried, but his voice was muffled by the sound of the crashing waves, and none of the crew on the lower levels were close enough to hear him.

Juliet let out a surprised laugh when she saw him hanging there. She looked back up at the captain with a smile, "Nicely done." She complimented.

"Thank you." The captain smiled brightly back as he moved over to the next long boat, lifting the cover to make sure that no one else was sleeping in it before he started loosening the ropes. He waved Juliet over to him, "Here, lass. Help me with this." Juliet nodded and started undoing different hooks and knots as the captain had instructed.

* * *

While this was going on, Tintin had made it up to the bridge, stopping just outside the door, listening in on what Tom was saying to Allan.

"Message just come through, boss."

"What's it say?"

"'The Milanese Nightingale has landed. Waiting in the wings for action.'" He read off.

"Milanese Nightingale?" Tintin echoed quietly. It was obviously a codename for something, but what? Some kind of special gun or a scope of some kind? He didn't really have time to ponder it.

"Now pray this cheers him up." Allan said. Tintin risked a glance through the porthole of the door, seeing Tom and Allan exiting through the bridge instead of the door where he was now. Once they were gone, he stepped inside the radio room, looking around. There were many maps of different parts of the world pinned on the walls and tables. In the middle of the room, there was a plate with a sandwich resting on it. There was a rat that was sniffing around it, scavenging a meal from it. Snowy jumped up onto the table as well. The rat squeaked up at him, and he growled back. The rat took a few steps back, but once it saw Snowy pawing at the sandwich, it squeaked at him again and the two started a little tug of war over the sandwich.

Tintin looked over where a Morse code message had been written out on a small card. Below that the word "Bagghar" was written, and as he glanced at the dots and dashes, he saw that's what the message said. He kept looking around on the table for loose papers and found some kind of brochure, "What's this?" He picked it up, seeing the picture at the front of an elegant palace. He glanced over the words written on it, "The sultanate of Bagghar…" He opened it up, seeing a picture of a dark-skinned, spectacled man dressed in fine attire that suited a sultan, "Ruled over by Sheik Ben Omar Salaad, whose love of music and culture is matched only by his love of…" He flipped the next page and his eyes widened at the sight of the picture that was there, "Great snakes!"

Snowy, who had still been in the food tug-of-war with the rat, looked up at his master inquisitively when he heard the exclamation. Tintin pocketed the brochure and went over the map on the wall. He glanced at the card that bore the name of what was undoubtedly the ship's location, and then looked back at the map, "Bagghar…" He searched over all of its locations before finding the one he wanted, "The Port of Bagghar, Morocco." He turned back to the radio, seeing the device that enabled Morse code. A plan formed in his mind, a way to get a message back to Interpol about the location of a serious criminal… It was risky, but he had to give it a shot. He went into the seat, turning on the radio and putting on the headphones that allowed him to hear the tones the machine would make as he adjusted the frequencies and started tapping out the message.

It was short, and to the point, and he managed to get out most of it before the door opened again. He gasped and turned when he saw Tom walk in. He pulled out a gun, shouting, "In here! He's in here!" Before he could shoot Tintin, Snowy jumped up, biting down on the man's arm, making it swing another way as the bullet went through the wall. Tintin dashed towards the man, punching him hard across the jaw, making him stumble back and drop his gun. He picked it up and ran through the door, knowing he only had moments before Allan or someone else came in. He glanced back behind his shoulder as Allan came through. Tintin pushed the stumbling Tom towards him to slow him down.

Another man, as he was rounding the corner of the deck around the bridge, saw Captain Haddock and Juliet and pointed his gun at them, "Here! By the lifeboats!" He shouted to alert the others.

Tintin ran out of the door as Allan pushed Tom to the side, "Get out of the way!" Tintin ran out, his eyes widening when he saw the back of the man who was pointing his gun at Haddock and Juliet, and he ran past him, knowing that if he headed straight for the boat, there was a good chance he would get shot in the back. "After him! Get him!" Allan shouted, getting the man's attention as Tintin dashed around him, jumping over the railing and landing down on the deck.

The man started firing his gun, the bullets rounding off one after another. Tintin ran through a space filled with cargo, and he could hear many of the bullets ricocheting off of them, but miraculously, none had found him.

Snowy, whimpering and whining, ran towards the boat that Haddock and Juliet were pushing out. Juliet called out to the little dog, "Come on, Snowy!" She patted the edge of the boat to encourage him, "Come on! Be a good boy!" He ran up and jumped into the boat, getting a quick rub to the head as a reward as Juliet helped the captain to keep pushing the boat out. He barked up at where the bullets were intensifying as Tintin ran one way and another to avoid all the shots. He rounded the chimney of the ship, skidding to a stop when he saw another man waiting on the other side with a large gun. Because he was in such close proximity, the man decided to take a swing at Tintin rather than waste bullets. It took the boy a moment to gather himself, and he ducked down before the punch struck, moved around the man and kicked him in the bend of his leg, forcing him to kneel. He pushed him forward to the floor and ran over him, dashing around the cargo.

"Why you little…" The man picked up his gun and started shooting at Tintin as he ran.

The sound of the quick-fire shots reached Haddock and Juliet as they pushed the boat out further. Snowy whimpered, worrying about his master as he saw the light from the gun fire. At his urging, Juliet jumped into the lifeboat, scooping up Snowy to try and comfort him. Haddock stumbled in after her, but because of the sudden gain in weight, the rope holding up one end of the boat snapped. Juliet screamed as she grabbed onto the boat so she wouldn't fall into the ocean, holding Snowy closely against her as the dog wriggled and whined in her arms. Haddock held on as well, watching as his whiskey bottles fell from his pockets into the water.

Tintin ran across the deck, finding a place to slide over to quickly avoid more bullets and he slid right off the deck and onto the one below it. He landed with a grunt by a set of stairs just as a man came up. They stared at each other for half a second before Tintin reached up and swung at the man. He let out a cry of pain and tumbled back down the stairs, alerting the others below to his location.

"He's up there!"

"Go!"

They quickly started climbing the stairs, going over the fallen man, firing more bullets at him. Tintin fired back as he ran, dashing around the corner where he could see the dangling lifeboat. He looked up ahead of him, seeing Allan pointing a gun in his direction. He didn't stop running, knowing there were plenty of men on his tail. He flinched when Allan fired, his bullet ricocheting off of the ship's wall and he fired back, his shot hitting the handle of a floodlight beside Allan that blinded him and the men behind Tintin as he jumped onto the lifeboat with the others.

"Don't let him get away!" He felt their bullets hitting the sides of the boat as he aimed the gun at the last remaining pulley and shot at it, forcing it to break. The boat fell from the place where it hung and splashed down into the water. The _Karaboudjan_ continued moving through the water, the group passing by the man that had fallen victim to the accident of the last boat, waving his arms at his crewmates to try and get their attention. They all flinched when more shots were fired at the boat and Tintin pushed Juliet down to try and hide her from them. Once they were too far away for any of the shots to be accurate enough to hit, Tintin and Haddock grabbed the oars and used them to push the boat further and further away from the ship. They could see the searchlights turning on at every side of the ship, quickly moving over the waters as the ship started to turn around. A flare was fired up from the deck and Tintin's eyes widened.

"Captain, get down! Get down!" He whispered, pushing down Haddock and Juliet. They all moved to lie at the bottom of the longboat to avoid being seen, Tintin being in between Haddock and Juliet, holding Snowy in his arms. They could hear the shouting of voices as the lights moved over the water, so very close to them. None of them could see what was happening or if they had found them, but they could hear the rumbling sound of the ship's engine as it started to get closer and closer. Haddock tried to get up to look, but Tintin pushed him back, "Stay down, Captain!" The man did so, but he also took Snowy from Tintin's arms so he could have some comfort.

Juliet reached out for Tintin's hand. He turned to look at her, and he saw the great amount of fear in her eyes. The ship was getting closer and closer, and there was a very good chance they would be run down. Her eyes were starting to fill with tears and he squeezed at her hand to try and reassure her. She moved her body to his, closing her eyes as the engine rumbled louder and louder. Tintin moved his free arm around her shoulder and held her, closing his eyes, taking in a deep breath as he prepared for the ship to run through them. He held her hand tightly, and she squeezed it right back, biting down on her lip. Haddock held Snowy close as he closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. The ship rumbled closer and closer, and finally they heard the sound of wood cracking and splintering under the great force of the ship, but it wasn't wood from their boat. As the rumbles started to fade away, they all poked their heads up from the boat, seeing the first longboat that Haddock had dropped into the water had been cut in half and was now sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

There was a moment of silence where they all let out a breath of relief that it wasn't their boat that had been put in that condition. Then, Tintin and Haddock both got up and started moving the oars again, moving the boat forward, further and further away from the _Karaboudjan_. The searchlights were still on, but none of them were moving over the water.

"I… I think we're safe." Juliet said as she watched the ship.

"For now." Tintin said, "Sakharine may have some hidden tricks up his sleeve to find us."

Juliet nodded in agreement, letting out a shaky breath as she sat up in the boat. She rested her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. Tintin saw how frightened she had been by the entire escapade and quickly moved around the boat, releasing the oar he had been holding and giving it to the Captain. He moved beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently.

"I-I think so." Juliet replied, she took a deep, shaky breath and she slowly started to relax, "Good Lord, that was terrifying…" Tintin didn't move from her side, not removing his arm from around her shoulders. He didn't say anything, just sat beside her until she had gathered herself up. She didn't say anything more to him, trying to get her mind off of the event that almost had her sinking like a rock to the bottom of the sea. She leaned into his side, taking another deep breath as she started to return back to her normal self. Her heart was still pounding, adrenaline still rushing through her veins, but she felt very… safe in Tintin's arms.

Captain Haddock continued rowing, knowing that it was best to stay silent as he stared at the young couple. He looked inquisitively over at Snowy, who looked up at him at the same time, although his little face looked as if it already knew the answer to Haddock's unspoken question. He took a deep breath in and out as he rowed on through the fading darkness as the sun started to make its way up through the horizon.


	8. The Sea

8

Once Juliet had calmed herself down, Tintin went to take over rowing, Captain Haddock sitting in front of him with Juliet behind him, Snowy scurrying about at her feet. The boat rocked from side to side in the water as the sun rose up a little higher with every passing minute. Tintin rowed as much as he could, grunting every now and then.

"So… Just where are we going now?" Juliet asked.

"We're going to the port of Bagghar." Tintin said.

Juliet's eyes widened, "What? Where is that?"

"It's in Morocco." Tintin said, "It's where Sakharine's headed."

"And you know this, because…" Juliet said, wanting him to explain a little more.

"When I was in the radio room, I got a good look at all their maps." Tintin said, "Sakharine's secret weapon is already there, waiting with the Sheik of Bagghar."

"Secret weapon?" Juliet groaned, "Oh, this just gets better and better." She looked around them. "How do you even know where we're going? Unless you've got a compass on you somewhere."

Tintin pointed to the horizon, "The sun always rises in the east. We're heading in the right direction."

"He's right." The captain agreed. Juliet nodded. There was a pause of silence where she could still hear Tintin grunting as he kept rowing.

"We have to get Bagghar ahead of Sakharine." Tintin said. Juliet nodded. If what Tintin had said was true, then Sakharine's next goal, be it either his secret weapon or the third ship was in Bagghar.

"I know, I know." Captain Haddock said. He paused and looked up at Tintin inquisitively, "Why?"

"Because he has the third model ship." Tintin said.

"Wait, so his secret weapon _and_ the third ship are in Bagghar?" Juliet asked. Tintin nodded.

"How do you know?" Haddock asked.

Tintin stopped rowing for a moment, reaching into the pocket of his pants to pull out the brochure he had taken from the radio room, "The Sheik collects old ships," He turned to the third page and pointed to the picture at the top, "And _this_ is the prize of his collection."

The captain looked at the brochure and his eyes widened, "Blistering blue barnacles, that is the _Unicorn_!" He exclaimed.

"Captain, do you see the distortion around the model?" Tintin asked, gesturing to the unusual hexagon shapes around the ship.

The Captain nodded, "Uh-huh, aye."

"It means that Ben Salaad exhibits it in a bulletproof glass case in his palace." Tintin continued.

"And that rotten cur Sakharine is going there to steal it!" Juliet exclaimed, anger coming over her face.

"Yes. He has a secret weapon." Tintin said, "The Milanese Nightingale. But that won't be enough to solve the mystery." He turned to Captain Haddock, "And that is why Sakharine needs _you_. That's why he made you his prisoner. There is something he needs _you_ to remember."

The Captain stared up at Tintin, confusion written over his expression "I don't follow you."

Tintin sighed and moved back into his seat by the oars, "I read it in a book," He explained, "That only a true Haddock can discover the secret of the _Unicorn_."

The captain was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he gasped, and a smile started to form on his bearded face. Tintin and Juliet smiled excitedly, looking up at him expectantly, waiting to hear what it was that he had remembered.

"I don't remember anything about anything."

Juliet's smile fell and she groaned exasperatedly, putting her head in her hands as Tintin continued to try to jog his memory.

"But you must know about your ancestors!" He said, "Sir Francis is your family legacy!"

"My memory is not what it used to be."

"Well, what _did_ it use to be?"

"I've forgotten."

Snowy let out a little whine as he lay his head down on the edge of the boat. Juliet let out a sigh of her own, her head moving up out of her hands, "This is pointless. His mind is too far gone to know anything useful."

"I beg your pardon?" The captain asked gruffly, scowling at her. "I know plenty of things!"

"You wouldn't know east from west if it weren't for the sun coming up!" Juliet snapped.

Insulted, the captain almost stood up in the boat, "_I_ am Captain Haddock! I know these seas better than any little landlubber ever would!"

"Oh, please." Juliet scoffed, "You couldn't even get us to _crash_ if you wanted to."

The captain let out an angry grunt and he sighed, looking very flustered, "I've never cursed in the presence of a woman before, and I'm _not_ about to start today…!" He muttered to himself.

Tintin, seeing how the captain was reacting to Juliet's insults decided to try some reverse psychology, "Captain." He looked up at the boy, "Can you get us to Bagghar?"

"What sort of a stupid question is _that_?!" He roared, standing up. "Give me those oars!" Tintin quickly moved to the side, and Juliet gasped as the boat started to rock more violently with the captain's steps and she hung onto her seat as Captain Haddock grabbed one oar from the place Tintin had been and put it in another holder, "I'll show you some _real_ seamanship, laddie. I'll not be doubted by some pipsqueak tuft of ginger and his badmouthed, irritating girlfriend!" He yanked up the other oar, and just before Tintin could tell him that Juliet wasn't his girlfriend, the oar's paddle hit him in the back of his head and he fell onto the floor of the boat, unconscious. "_I_ am master and commander of the seas!" Juliet jumped up when she saw Tintin fall, and that put her directly in line for the other end of the oar to hit her head, just after it had hit Snowy and knocked him unconscious. Juliet fell back in her seat, slumping against the wood as Tintin lay against the edge of the boat, one hand dipped into the water. The captain put the oar in place and sat down, "I know these waters better than the warts on my mother's face!" He started to row, and he looked over at Snowy, then up at Juliet. He glanced back at Tintin and laughed, shaking his head, "Look at the lot of them. Fast asleep. Typical landlubbers. No stamina these days." He sighed and kept rowing, "Never mind. I'll get you there, Tintin."

* * *

The captain had been rowing for the better part of an hour now. It was still early morning, the sun not very high up in the sky, and it was so cold! He knew how cold the sea could be, after all, he was a captain. He knew how tortuous it could be to do ship work in the early morning, not just because you're tired, but because it feels like the cold will freeze your hands off! He could see his own breath and he stopped rowing for a moment, rubbing the cold off of his arms with his hands.

"Oh, I'm so cold…" He muttered to himself. His cold hands went up to his throat, rubbing at it, "And thirsty." He kept rubbing at it, "My throat is parched. Let's see if there's any fresh water." He turned around where Juliet was laying and, with a little careful maneuvering so as not to wake her up, he shifted her legs aside so that he could get better access to the storage cabinet that she sat on. He pulled open the small door, his hands moving through the different objects, searching for something that could quench his thirst. He pushed aside a pile of ropes and he stopped, smiling, "Aha… What have we here?" He reached for the bottle of whiskey, looking down at the drink as he closed the cabinet doors and sat back up, happily taking a few gulps from the bottle.

He smiles as he felt the warmth from the alcohol buzz start filling him up. He was feeling _much_ better now. He started to row again, the whiskey bottle resting just beside his feet. He looked over at Tintin, who was still fast asleep, but he could see him shivering in the coldness of the ocean morning. He turned around to see Juliet was shivering, too. He frowned as he started to think. Here he was, nice and warm from his whiskey drink, but what about these two kids? They must be freezing in this cold, and they don't have any way to warm themselves up if they're asleep. What would he normally do in situations like this? He let out a thoughtful hum, his lips pursing as he tried to think. They didn't have any blankets to use, so that was out. He could give them his coat, but he needed it at the moment. If they were on land, he would have lit a fire, that way they could all be warm and comfortable.

Now that he thought about it… Why wasn't he doing that? Because they didn't have wood? He looked down at the oars in his hands. These were made from wood. He could use them. But what would he use to light the fire? He almost smacked himself for his stupidity. He would use the oars! He could just break them up and use natural friction to start a fire! He smiled and stood up, starting to break apart the oars using his knee and tossing it down in the middle of the boat. It took a little more work than he thought to get the friction up and going, but he got it. He smiled when he soon got a roaring fire going, and he had only broken up one oar! He felt very proud of himself.

However, having this warmth wouldn't mean much if Tintin and Juliet weren't able to warm up as well. So, as he started to warm up his backside, he called out to Tintin as he gently started shaking Juliet, "Tintin?" The boy stirred, but he didn't quite wake up. "Tintin?" He smiled when he saw the boy's eyes opening. "Come and warm yourself, laddie."

Tintin's eyes widened when he saw the orange flames rising up from the bottom of the boat and he sat up. He almost wondered if this was a dream he had concocted when he was unconscious, but his senses told him he was definitely _not_ dreaming.

"Captain?" He stood up, pointing to the fire, "What have you done?"

At the sound of Tintin's voice, Juliet started to wake up and she gasped at the sight of the fire, standing up as well.

"Oh, no need to thank me." Captain Haddock said as he turned around to warm his hands.

"What?!" Tintin went over to the flames, trying to stomp them out.

"Well, you looked a little cold, so I lit a wee fire."

"_In a boat?!_" Juliet screeched at him. The two watched with wide eyes as he picked up the second oar.

"No, those are our oars." Tintin tried to stop him, still trying to stomp out the fire, but it wasn't doing much good. "We need those oars!"

"Yes, but not for much longer." Haddock replied, breaking it over his knee and tossing it into the fire.

"Have you gone mad?!" Tintin yelled at him. He darted to the sides of the boat, splashing water over the sides and onto the fire, "Quick, Juliet! Help me!" Juliet went over to the side opposite Tintin and started splashing some water as well, "Captain, help me! Quick!"

Captain Haddock's eyes widened as he realized just what he had done. What had he been thinking?! Who lights a fire in a wooden lifeboat with their only oars?! "He's right. What have I done? What have I done?!" He looked around, searching for a way to help and saw the bottle of whiskey. Might as well have it be of use here. He picked up the bottle and at the sound of the popping cork, Tintin looked up, his eyes widening even more.

"No! Captain, not that!"

Too late, the captain had already dumped half of the bottle onto the fire. Juliet shrieked, jumping back when the fire erupted in a small explosion that blasted up ten feet above them. Once it was over, there was still a fire going along the floor of the boat, though it seemed not as great as before.

"Thundering Typhoons." The captain moaned, seeing that he had made their situation much, much worse.

"Alright, alright…" Tintin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "There's no way we can have the boat stay in this condition." He looked up at the others, "We'll have to flip it over."

"What?!" Juliet's eyes widened greatly.

Tintin nodded. "If we leave the fire like this, it will spread and cover the entire boat, we have to flip it over." He grabbed the edge of the boat and started using it to rock the craft back and forth. Juliet let out a squeal and grabbed onto the sides of the boat.

"No! No, no, no!" She cried, making Tintin stop. "We can't flip it over. That means we'll all have to go in the water."

"Yes, and?" Tintin wasn't seeing the problem. They would all have to go in the water for a short amount of time if they succeeded.

Juliet fiercely shook her head. "We can't do that."

"Why not?"

Juliet glanced fearfully at the water, then back at Tintin, "I… I can't swim."

Tintin's eyes widened for a moment in surprise. "Why didn't you say anything before we got on the boat?"

"This was the only way off of the _Karaboudjan_, what was I supposed to say?!" Juliet snapped, "I'm fine if I'm in a boat or something, but I can't actually _be_ in the water!"

Tintin made his way around the fire spot and the captain, who stared bewilderedly at the two. He put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. "You don't have to worry. It will only be for a short moment. You can hang onto me."

"But…" Juliet still looked afraid.

"Oh, what are we waiting for?" The captain said, and he started using his weight to rock the ship back and forth. Juliet let out another shriek, her arms wrapping around Tintin's shoulders as the boat suddenly rocked upwards, turning on its side easily enough and dropping all of them in the water. Snowy had jumped out before it had flipped over and Juliet had hung onto Tintin tightly as they and the captain all fell in.

They were all under the water for a short moment, which terrified Juliet to no end, but Tintin wrapped his arm around her waist and moved up towards the surface. They took a big gulp of air and swam back to the boat, Tintin helping Juliet to get up first as the captain got on. Snowy swam over a moment later, and Tintin pushed him up before he went up himself. He sighed, sitting in the middle of the boat between the captain and Juliet, who had pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her shins. She was taking deep breaths in and out to calm herself as she looked at the ocean.

There they sat, adrift in the open sea as the sun started to rise higher and higher in the sky.

* * *

"Well, this is a fine mess." Tintin huffed out an exasperated breath. The sun had now risen to the middle of the sky. It was starting to turn into the afternoon, and they had been drifting on the water for an hour.

"I'm weak…" The captain moaned to himself as Tintin spoke.

"We're stranded here—"

"Selfish."

"—with no hope of rescue—"

"Hopeless."

"—while Sakharine and his men are halfway to Bagghar!"

"Poor, miserable wretch!" The captain struck himself in the face and Tintin sighed.

"Yes, all right. That's enough of that." He said.

"It was his fault, you see." Haddock began, "It was Sir Francis."

"Tell me, how did you work that one out?" Juliet said. After being dry and out of the water for ten minutes, she had gone back to her usual, snappy, sarcastic self.

"Because he was a figurehead of great courage and bold exploits." Haddock said, "No one like him ever existed in my family!" Tintin rolled his eyes, thinking it silly for Haddock to blame their current situation on someone who had been dead for almost two hundred years. "Why do you think I drink? Because I know I'll never be like him." The captain shook his head and stood up on the boat, "No, it's far better that I end it now. Put us all out of our misery." He reached over, shaking Tintin's hand as Snowy looked at something off on the distance, whimpering and whining. Juliet looked curiously at the little terrier, turning around to see what he was looking at, squinting in the bright sunlight. Tintin noticed, too, and put his hand on the dog's head, petting him to give him some comfort.

"What is it, Snowy?" He asked.

Haddock put his hands together, getting ready to dive into the water, "I'm… I'm gonna lower myself into the sea," He started to explain as Tintin and Juliet looked up, seeing a plane moving through the sky. Juliet's heart soared with hope, thinking they were saved and she smiled. However, Tintin – being more experienced in the realm of adventures – was a little wary of the plane as it started to fly closer. He could make out some of the markings from where he was. He couldn't read them, but he knew what language they were. "Into the cold embrace of the big blue…"

"Those are Portuguese markings…" Tintin muttered.

The captain turned his head, was he really not paying attention to him? What was the point of giving up his life for their betterment if they didn't know he was doing it? "Are you even listen—"

"Where is the _Karaboudjan_ registered?" Tintin demanded as the plane flew closer and closer.

Haddock could hear the buzzing from the plane's engine and he turned around, his eyes widening and he smiled as the plane flew closer to them. "We're saved." He clapped his hands together and his smile grew bigger, "We're saved!" He went down on his knees, his hands moved upwards towards the sky, "_Oh_, it's a sign from _above_!"

The plane flew in their direction, and shot off rounds of bullets at them. They all ducked down as the shots splashed into the water and on the wood of the boat, narrowly missing them as it flew over them. Once he realized that this was a plane from his ship, the captain glared up at the ship, shouting at it, "Troglodytes!"

"Captain, get down!" Tintin said, tugging on the man's coat, trying to make him a less easy target as the plane started to circle back.

"Slave traders!" The captain ignored him, still shouting up his anger at the plane. "Mutant malingerers! Freshwater politicians!"

"Don't we have any way to fight back?" Juliet asked, looking up fearfully at the plane.

Tintin remembered the gun he had taken from the _Karaboudjan_ in the back of his pants and he reached for it. He opened it up, seeing how much ammunition they had left. It was just one bullet.

"Bad news," He said, "We've only got one bullet."

"What's the good news?" The captain asked.

"We've got one bullet." Tintin said. He put the gun back together and pointed it at the plane, having one arm resting on his other one to make sure the shot was straight as the plane flew back, firing at them again. They all ducked down, the captain moving his feet back and forth fearfully as the bullets hit the boat again. Juliet let out a squeal when one of them managed to nick the edge of her skirt and she jumped back just as Tintin fired the bullet up at the plane's engine as it flew overhead. The engine started to sputter, smoke coming out and the plane moved further away in the water, forced to land almost half a mile away just as Haddock lost his balance and fell into the water. Tintin smiled triumphantly at his work.

"You got him!" Haddock praised as he come spluttering back up from the water. "Ah, well done, my boy!" Tintin jumped in the water after him, and Snowy did the same. Juliet looked at the water fearfully, drawing her legs up closer to her body.

Tintin looked up at her, holding out his hand, "It's alright, Juliet." He said, "Just hang on to the boat. You won't fall in." She reached for his hand and he gently urged her into the water. He knew it wouldn't be smart to just tug her in. She slipped herself into the cold ocean water and shivered, grabbing onto the boat's edge with an iron grip, making sure to keep her head and shoulders out of the water. Tintin turned to Haddock, "Stay here, Captain." He took a big gulp of breath and went under the water, moving under the boat and swimming to the other side.

"Tintin. Tintin!" The captain called out to him, worried about just what he was planning, but he didn't leave the boat. Someone needed to stay and look after the lass who couldn't swim.

Snowy whined worriedly as he watched his master swim away.

"Be careful, Tintin." Juliet murmured softly, reaching up and scratching Snowy's head with her free hand to give him some comfort.

* * *

As the plane landed, the two men inside jumped out to see what was wrong with the engine. They moved on the side of the plane and opened it up, one pilot turned to the other, "Don't take your eyes off of them." He ordered. The other pilot nodded, taking his gun and aiming it at the turned-over boat.

"Hurry up." He said to the other as he knelt down. His gaze was so focused on the boat, he didn't see the little tuft of hair sticking out of the water as it swam closer and closer to the plane, moving carefully and with a purpose, like a shark.

"Just as I thought. The ignition lead has been cut." The first pilot said, quickly amending the problem and shutting the engine, "Lucky shot."

"One more pass, and we will finish them off." The second pilot said, grinning up at his partner.

Tintin reached the edge of the plane and pointed the empty gun at the two of them. "Put your hands in the air." The two pilots froze, looking at the boy with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Now!" They did as he ordered, raising their hands in defeat, dropping their guns in the water.

* * *

**Ta-da! I would have uploaded this sooner, but I had a brain fart for a while and forgot. I hope you guys liked that I included Haddock's thought process for building the fire in the boat. I hope it fits him!**


	9. The Sky

9

Once Tintin had given the signal to Haddock and Juliet that the plane was his, they started making their way to him, which means that Haddock had to hang onto Juliet as he swam over. She held his arm in a vice-like grip. He tried to give her some tips to help her learn to swim as they moved, but she was too afraid to actually try at that very moment, and she refused to let go of him, terrified that she would sink to the bottom of the ocean like a rock if she did. Snowy paddled along behind them until they got up to the plane. Haddock pushed himself up while Tintin helped Juliet out of the water. Snowy easily jumped up onto the plane, shaking himself off to dry his fur.

When Tintin looked over Juliet, he noticed the rip in her skirt, "Did they shoot you?" He asked.

Juliet looked down at her skirt, and then up at Tintin, shaking her head, "No, they just ruined my skirt. I'm fine."

He nodded, and helped her up into the plane, walking in right after her while Haddock was just behind them. The plane was large enough to seat two, and being a gentleman, Haddock let Juliet take it as Tintin searched around the dashboard. The two pilots from the _Karaboudjan_ sat in the back, their hands bound behind them. Snowy growled at them from where he stood, but he made no move to attack them.

Tintin smiled when he finally found what he was searching for and opened up the flight manual as he took a seat in the pilot's chair. "Let's see here." He muttered as he opened up the book, looking through the different pages, glancing at the information they offered before figuring out how to start the plane.

"Uh… You do know what you're doing, eh, Tintin?" Haddock asked nervously from his place behind Juliet.

"Um… More or less." Tintin replied, turning different nobs and different switches, making the engine sputter to life.

"Well, which is it? More or less?" Haddock asked urgently. Snowy, taking advantage of the open window of the plane, jumped up in Juliet's lap and stuck his head out as the plane began slowly making its way across the water.

"Relax. I interviewed a pilot once." Tintin said, the plane lurching as he took ahold of the controls. The captain let out a yelp as the plane skipped across the water for a moment before taking off into the air. Tintin couldn't help but feel a little accomplished at managing to get the plane up without any serious problems. "Which way to North Africa?" He asked his companions.

Since he knew the headings by heart, Captain Haddock was the one that told him, although he wasn't very happy about it. He kept stumbling about behind the young pair as the plane continued to fly, looking out the window every now and then over the sea.

After a few minutes of flying, a ship came into view. As they came closer and closer to it, Tintin realized it was the _Karaboudjan_. Going by air was much faster than going by sea, it seemed. He smiled as he decided to fly the plane over it, keeping to the heading that Captain Haddock had told him, as well as telling Sakharine that the plane was pretty much theirs now. If he happened to see them.

"Oh, look at that, Captain." Juliet said, "We've caught up to the smarmy jerk."

"Wonderful." The captain groaned from airsickness as they flew over the craft. He looked ahead of them and his eyes widened worriedly, "But you think we might find another way to North Africa that doesn't take us through that wall of death?" He pointed ahead where grey storm clouds were looming in the sky, lightning shooting through them and thunder rumbling louder as they got closer.

"We can't turn back. Not now." Tintin said as he headed for the clouds. "Not now…"

"Oh." The captain let out another moan and he slumped back against the wall. Juliet gripped the back of Tintin's seat as they approached the storm.

"I don't suppose flying over it is an option?" Juliet asked.

Tintin shook his head, "This craft is too small, it wasn't made to go that high up into the atmosphere."

Juliet let out a huff of breath, but said nothing more as Tintin started to make his way into the clouds, jumping when she saw lightning flashing just outside their craft. Instantly, the little plane was pelted with heavy drops of rain and Tintin had some trouble navigating through it. The plane shook and swayed with the strong winds of the storm. The captain groaned every now and then as they flew lower, then higher, having a lot of trouble keeping the plane going in a straight line. He looked up, and he grinned when he saw a small pouch that was filled with different first aid necessities. His eyes rested on one bottle in particular that read 'Surgical Alcohol.' He started to reach for it, thinking this would surely calm his nerves, chuckling as he did. Juliet saw this and reached out, smacking his hand back.

"No, captain!" She said, he pulled his hand back with a gasp as she turned back to give him an admonishing look, "Those are surgical spirits for medicinal purposes only!"

"Quite right, lassie. Quite right." Haddock said, giving in to what she wanted, rubbing at the spot on his hand that she had smacked.

The plane jumped when it was struck by lightning, and Haddock and Juliet let out screams as the plane was flipped over in its flight. Tintin, trying to stay calm and collected from the sudden hit, tried to get his feet back on the floor and pull on the lever that controlled the plane, making it right itself with a huge lurch. Juliet managed to get back into her seat, her head spinning. The captain was the same, and although he was used to the feeling of having his head spin from the whiskey, he didn't like the kind of spinning he was feeling now and he quickly reached for the surgical alcohol. He opened up the bottle as Tintin tried to right the plane, and ended up having it take a downward dive towards the ocean. The drop was so steep, that everyone started to float up into the air. The alcohol from the bottle floated up in a small, golden brown blob. The captain's eyes widened interestedly and he pursed his lips, trying to get closer to the blob as Snowy came up as well. He sniffed at the blob before he opened up his mouth and gulped it all down, much to the captain's displeasure.

Just before the plane hit the water, Tintin yanked on the controls, and they stopped falling, making everyone slam back into their seats, Snowy letting out a little belch when he landed. Tintin struggled against the storm, trying to get the plane back to the altitude it had been at before, but he didn't do well, and the plane took another nosedive. Once again, everyone was airborne in the cabin of the plane. An even bigger blob came out of the bottle and Snowy waved his paws through the air, trying to get at it. The captain chuckled and he reached out, grabbing Snowy's tongue to prevent him from slurping up the remainder of the drink as he started to suck it all down his throat with a triumphant grin.

The plane swerved as Tintin brought it back up and the engine started to sputter again. Tintin's eyes darted around the dashboard, seeing all the needles were starting to go down. "No, no, no…" He muttered, tapping at the RPM meter. "The fuel tank!" He exclaimed as he looked over at the gas meter, the needle pointing to E. "It's almost empty!" He tried to think of a fuel source they could use, and then he remembered Juliet admonishing the captain for trying to drink from the bottle of surgical spirits. "Captain! This may sound crazy, but I've got a plan." Haddock, keeping the empty bottle down from the gaze of Tintin or Juliet, looked up at him, "The alcohol in that bottle may give us a few more miles." Haddock gasped quietly as he looked at the bottle, "I need you to climb out of the plane and pour it into the fuel tank." He pointed to where the fuel tank was located just in front of the windshield of the plane.

"Christopher Columbus!" The captain whimpered as he started to put on a parachute. He pushed himself up and went over to the door of the plane. His hat got knocked back inside the cabin from the roaring winds and the stinging rain. He stared at the hellish storm for one second, then closed the door, remaining inside the cabin, "Oh, there's a terrible storm out there. And… And it's… it's raining." He kept trying to find an excuse to remain inside. Juliet huffed out and turned around in her seat, scowling at the captain.

"And you call yourself a Haddock?!" She snapped.

The captain scowled at having the name of his family challenged by her again. He took in a deep breath, gathering up all his courage and bravery before he released his breath in a fearful whimper before he opened the door back up and stepped outside. He screamed when he was swept away by the winds, and Juliet and Tintin both looked back to the door with wide eyes.

"Captain!" Tintin shouted out for him, "Captain, can you hear me?! Captain!" There was no response. Tintin's heart sank into his stomach. What had he done?

He saw something move in the window beside him, and he felt relief when he saw Captain Haddock's face against the window pane, looking at Tintin with wide, fearful eyes. He could hear his whimpers as he hung onto the plane's side. "You're doing fine!" He tried to assure the man, "Now, pour the bottle into the tank!" He pointed towards the opening in front the windshield, "We're running on fumes!"

The captain's eyes widened at his words. "_Fumes_!" He bellowed, struck with a brilliant idea. He moved from his place on the plane and climbed up in front of Tintin, blocking his view as he started to twist the cap of the fuel tank open.

As the shaky plane flew onwards, the empty bottle rolled over, hitting Juliet's foot. She looked down, her eyes widening at the sight of it as she picked it up. She stared out at where the captain was, and then looked to Tintin, "Uh, kid?"

He looked back at her over his shoulder, and she showed him the empty bottle. His eyes grew wide and he looked back at Haddock as he started pounding his chest, letting out a couple loud grunts before he bent forward, putting his mouth at the fuel tank and let out a loud, alcohol-soaked belch. The engine sputtered to life again, catching fire as it lurched forward, riding out through the last of the storm clouds. Tintin did his best to keep it level as the captain leaned back against the windshield.

"Captain! I can't see!" Tintin shouted at him.

"Land! Land!" The captain called back.

"We can't! We're not there yet!" Tintin called up at him.

"No, _land_!" The captain cried, his body moving aside enough for Tintin to see the sandy dunes of the Sahara Desert. One dune in particular was just in front of them and they were about to crash.

"Pull up! Pull up!" Juliet cried. Tintin yanked on the lever, making the plane swerve to the side away from the dune, narrowly avoiding it. However, since they were so low on fuel, they couldn't pull up any higher, so they had to fly down, staying close to the desert sands.

"Starboard! Starboard!" Haddock cried, "Turn!" Tintin yanked hard on the lever again and the plane swerved to the right. He kept looking out the sides of the window that he could see. During this excitement, no one noticed that the two captured pilots had managed to get free of their bonds and were taking the last two parachutes. Tintin jumped when lightning struck down on Haddock and he fell back on the plane, moving over the wings. His parachute opened as he hung onto the front wing, and the wind pulled him back. He slid over the top of the plane, grabbing onto the tail of it for support. The wind was too strong and the tail of the plane started to break apart. When this was happening, the two captured pilots jumped out of the plane, releasing the parachutes before safely landing on the dunes below.

The tail of the plane finally snapped off under Haddock and he flew back. With nothing to help Tintin steady the craft, he could only yank harder on the controls. The lever snapped and his eyes widened. He looked up at the windshield, seeing they were approaching the ground, and fast! He bent down, grabbing Snowy and he ducked down to brace for the crash, and Juliet did the same. The plane bounced off of one dune, and Juliet let out a cry as she felt the glass of the windows breaking around her. The plane was up in the air for another moment, and it quickly came back down, tumbling over the sand, knocking them about long enough to get them both unconscious before it managed to slow to a halt, although the propeller still kept going. Juliet was pushed back underneath the seats of the plane while Tintin was pushed forward through the windshield, which slid down the front of the plane, and was destroyed in the whirling propeller.

Snowy, seeing that his master was slowly moving down the front of the plane towards the propeller, let out a whine and jumped up, biting and pulling at Tintin's clothes, trying to get him away from it. He couldn't really do much, though. Snowy was a good, smart, brave dog, but he wasn't strong enough to pull Tintin back to safety.

Captain Haddock looked up from his crash site, seeing the plane in the distance, still kicking up sand from the propeller. He quickly pushed himself up, "Hang on, kids!" He ran up over the dune, "I'm coming!" As he ran up, some wind got caught on the open parachute and lifted him up into the air. He let out a cry as he floated over the dunes and was about to be carried just over the propeller, when the plane suddenly shifted forward, and a wind shot him back onto the top of the plane. He grunted and he pushed himself up, going over to where Tintin was still sliding closer and closer to the quick propeller. The plane still shifted forward with the propeller still going, which pushed Tintin closer and closer to it. Snowy whimpered and whined as Tintin kept moving forward. He jumped up on his back and pulled at the back of his shirt, trying to yank him back just as Haddock made his way to them. The tips of Tintin's hairs were being cut by the propeller, and Haddock pulled him up with a loud shout and tossed him onto what was left of the plane's wings.

The captain reached back to take off the parachute just as it got tangled in the propeller, and pulled him into it. He yelled as he was flung about by it for a few turns before he shot off of it into a dune, the propeller finally coming to a stop just as Tintin came to. Snowy, who had been thrown up with Tintin, walked forward on the front of the plane, and slipped off the side into the sand. Tintin pushed himself, rubbing at his head as he looked over at the captain, who was taking deep breaths to try and calm down.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Tintin asked. The man nodded.

"Aye, as I'll ever be." He replied. Tintin looked around the crash site, seeing the damage that the plane had sustained during the crash. He did a small headcount, and saw that it was he, Snowy, and Haddock that were outside the plane.

"Juliet?" He went over to where the windshield had been and saw Juliet lying on the floor of the plane, groaning as she started to regain consciousness. He let out a sigh of relief. "Are you alright?"

"What?" Juliet pushed herself up, and looked at Tintin, "Oh… Yes, I-I think so." She started to push up with her other arm and she gasped, letting out a small moan. Instantly realizing she had been injured, Tintin ran to the side of the plane, opening up the small door and looked inside.

"What's wrong?" He asked urgently.

"It's my arm…" Juliet said, Tintin looked at it, and grimaced when he saw the red scar on her arm, still dripping blood. "When the windows crashed… Some of the glass must have got me."

Tintin put his hands on her shoulder and at the bend of her arm. She hissed in pain as his fingers moved over it, trying to be as gentle as he could, "It's deep, but I don't think it's deep enough to require stitches." He reached for her other hand, putting it over the cut, "Keep putting pressure on it. I'll get something to wrap it." She did as he asked, although it was painful to keep pressure on it. He looked over at where the first aid kit had been, but found that the supplies had been scattered all over the cabin. He looked around for something to disinfect the cut with, and he found it, but he couldn't find any gauze to wrap it with. He looked over at Juliet's skirt. It wouldn't be very respectable to cut it shorter, but they had to work with what they had. He went over to her skirt and she looked up at him warily.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he held onto the fabric.

"I can't find any bandages." He said, and he yanked at the skirt, ripping the fabric until he got a good, long strand of it to use. It wasn't too hard to rip it, since the rip from the bullet from the plane was still there.

"This was my favorite skirt." Juliet said with a joking smile. Tintin grinned, glancing up at her as she lifted up her legs to make it easier for him to tear it. Once he got enough, cutting her shirt shorter by a full three inches, he started wrapping it around her arm. She winced when he did.

"Does it have to be so tight?" She asked.

"I'm afraid so." Tintin replied, "The pressure will stop the bleeding. Until we're able to find an actual doctor, anyway."

Juliet let out a little sigh, but she didn't say anything against it as he wrapped up her arm. She looked up at him, "Remember when I said that being chased by that dog was the most scared I'd ever been in all my life?"

Tintin glanced up at her, "Yes."

"I take it back. That plane ride was the most scared I'd ever been in all my life." Juliet said.

Tintin let a grin come onto his face, "I suppose if I had been better pilot, you wouldn't have been so afraid, right?"

"That _might_ have something to do with it." Juliet said teasingly, "But you were a better pilot than I would have been, Tintin."

He paused in tying the knot that would have bound the skirt wrappings to her arm, looking up at her, "You called me by my name."

"Yes. I did." Juliet replied. She smiled at him, "I think you've proved you're not a kid."

His smile grew wider and he tugged at the wrappings, finishing the knot. Juliet winced a little once he was done and he still held onto her arm to help her stand up. He continued to lead her by the arm out of the plane. She looked around the desert and the smile she had been wearing disappeared.

"We have a long way to go, don't we?" She asked softly as she looked around at all the dunes.

Tintin sighed, "Yes… We do."

* * *

The group started their trek through the desert, and it was exhausting. The heat of the desert sun pounded down on them. Juliet was thankful that they had used her skirt for bandages, because if her skirt had been any longer, she was certain she would have overheated by now. Tintin had taken off his blue sweater and had tied it around his waist. He used his handkerchief as a head covering, as Haddock did with his own. Juliet had done the same with her own handkerchief, but instead of tying off the four corners so it would stay on her head, she had found some spare hair ties in her pocket. She never used them because they were inconvenient compared to her rubber band, but she managed to create a makeshift headband that kept her handkerchief loose over her red hair, which she had put up into a ponytail with her rubber band. They were all covered with sweat as they trekked through the sand. Tintin carried some of the captain's things as they walked, letting him lean on his shoulder. The man was experiencing the worst of the desert, as he had drunken so much alcohol for so long, and not really any water. Juliet and Tintin were barely managing as it was. Snowy seemed to be alright, although he was struggling a bit. He had found a large bone in the sand a while back, and he was determined to keep it with him as he walked. The bone was bigger than him, and probably the same weight, but he wouldn't let it out of his mouth and growled at anyone who tried to take it from him.

"The land of thirst…" Haddock groaned as they walked on, "The land of thirst… Land of thirst…"

"Will you stop saying that?" Tintin said exasperatedly.

"You don't understand." Haddock said, reaching for a whiskey bottle that had been emptied some time ago, "I've run out." He let out a small groan and fell to his knees, holding onto the bottle. "I've _run out_." He looked up at Tintin, "You don't know what that _means_."

Tintin swiped the bottle from his hand, "Captain, we have to keep going. One step at a time. Come on, on your feet." He bent down so it would be easier for Haddock to get his arm around Tintin's shoulders and he helped the man to stand up, "Lean your weight on me."

"A man can only hang on for so long without his vitals." Haddock moaned.

"Oh, calm down, Captain." Juliet said, "There are worse things than sobering up!"

Haddock gasped, his eyes wide as he pointed ahead of them, "Look, Tintin… We're saved." He started to head up the dune, "Water… Water!" Snowy ran up after him, jumping up and pulling down on the man's suspenders. He only succeeded in slowing him down for a few moments before the suspenders snapped back to the man, sending him tumbling down the other dune.

"Stop, Captain!" Tintin called as he and Juliet went after him as he stayed there on the dune, looking around bewilderedly, "It's just a mirage!"

"It was here… I saw it…" He mumbled. Tintin went over to the man's side.

"It was just your mind playing tricks." Tintin said, "It's the heat!"

Haddock wasn't listening, he was gazing at something else off in the distance. "…I have to go home."

"What?"

"I have to go back to the sea…"

"He's hallucinating." Juliet said.

The captain pointed off in the distance, "Look. Did you ever see a more beautiful sight?" Juliet sighed tiredly, thinking this man had finally gone completely mad as the captain stood up. "She's turning into the wind. All sails set." Tintin sat back, looking up at him in disbelief, thinking the same thing as Juliet, "Triple masted. Double decks. Fifty guns." However, that description of the ship was enough to give the boy some hope as he stood up.

"The _Unicorn_?"

"Isn't she a beauty?" Haddock asked, turning to Tintin, who smiled widely.

"Yes, yes she is!" Tintin said, putting his hands on the captain's shoulders. "Tell me, Captain. What else can you see?" He pointed out to the horizon and Captain Haddock looked back at it.

"She's got the wind behind her. Look at the pace she's setting." He said, "Barely a _day_ out of Barbados… A hold full of rum and the finest tobacco, and the hearts of the sailors set for home." Juliet, seeing a chance to take a rest, sat down on the top of the dune, Tintin doing the same as the captain started to tell them the tale of the _Unicorn_. "There's Sir Francis looking out among the waters with his spyglass… Looking into the greyest of the clouds, he sees a ship just over yonder. And he sees the red pennant. The blood runs cold in every sea captain who looks upon that flag, for he knows he's facing a fight to the death. _But_! Sir Francis is a Haddock, and Haddocks. Don't. Flee." He brought up his whiskey bottle, looking through it like a telescope. "He called for all hands to be on deck, all gunners to their stations. He was getting ready to unload the king's shot into those lily-livered, yellow bellied sea slugs!" He moved the bottle away from his eyes, "He told Mr. Nicholls, his first mate, to bring her about. The waves were high between the _Unicorn_ and the pirate ship, but that didn't stop them from firing. The pirates blasted their cannons through the waves, landing a few shots to the bow, but did that stop Sir Francis? _Oh_, no. The _Unicorn_ fired back every cannon she had! Shots were blasted out from below deck with great booms!" He waved his hands in the air to demonstrate the noise they made. Juliet and Tintin listened intently to his story, feeling drawn into it, almost as if they could see the scene playing out before their eyes.

"As they got closer to the ship, they could hear the laughter of the pirate crew as they returned fire. The ship was a _meager_ little thing compared to the great _majesty_ of the _Unicorn_, but it was faster, that was the only thing they had going for them. They landed a few shots to the pirate's sails, setting them aflame! They did the same to the _Unicorn_, but that didn't stop them. Cannon fire rang out all around Sir Francis as he walked about on deck, explosions bursting on the starboard side! As the storm they were in grew stronger, the ships were brought closer together until they _banged_ into each other! The flags got caught together in the high seas, and the _Unicorn_ found itself attached to the pirate ship. This battle wasn't going to be easy, but that didn't deter Sir Francis! He was determined to make it out of this battle _alive_, as well as with all his cargo. So, he told Mr. Nicholls to secure it, before he pulled out his sword!" He flipped over the whiskey bottle, holding it by the neck and raising it up to the sky, "And he shouted out to his crew to prepare to repel all boarders! The crew scattered about the deck as the wave that the pirate ship had been riding swelled down, it suddenly _swung over_ the deck, spraying all of its crew members with salt water as the pirates came down on their ropes, landing on deck. They came from all sides, swinging their blades, shooting their guns, but Sir Francis wasn't afraid. His sword was drawn, his gun at the ready, and he was taking out every pirate that _dared_ to cross his path!" He swung the bottle around like a sword with impressive skill as he imitated the moves that he described Sir Francis doing. "The pirate ship _swung_ to the port side, and it landed in the water. Both ships were burning in the sea, but the _Unicorn_ wouldn't go down as easy as that puny little craft."

"He could hear the cries of the pirates calling for more men. The ships were still connected by their flags, and Sir Francis knew that, in order to stop this onslaught of attacks, he'd have to break that connection. The _Unicorn_ started to tilt onto its side in the ocean waves, and he walked along the mast, which stood straight out towards the pirate ship. He quickly scaled along the mast that held burning sails. He could see two pirates making their way towards him, and rather than fight them head on, Sir Francis took a rope from the sails and cut it, using it to take him up to where the two ships were connected and he used his blade to cut off the flags! The last of the pirates were sent screaming back onto their ship as it took on water, and made its way down, down to the ocean floor. With the Unicorn upright again, Sir Francis used his gun to help him slide down the rope to lead him to the deck, but the mast ahead of him was blazing with fire! So, he cut the line before he reached the flames and swung down onto the deck. He held onto the rope as he cut down _one_ pirate after _another_! He landed on the deck, and he picked up a burning piece of debris and used it to light a nearby cannon, after cutting the rope that kept it stable on the ship. The cannon _burst_ out with the cannonball, and it _flew_ back into a group of pirates, sending them all into the ocean! He kept taking down more and more pirates… And then he saw him… Like a phantom rising from the dead…" He trailed off, staring off into the distance, still holding onto the neck of the whiskey bottle.

"Who?" Tintin asked, stepping closer to the captain. The man didn't answer, "Captain, who did he see?"

"It's gone." Haddock said, his eyes blinking rapidly in the sunlight, looking around at the desert sands.

"What do you mean 'gone?'" Tintin asked, he was so close to finding out the secret of the _Unicorn_! He just needed Haddock to keep talking, "What happened next?"

The captain turned around, looking the world, putting his hands to his chin, "By Jupiter I have a _beard_! Since when did I have a _beard_?!"

"Captain," Juliet went over to the man, putting her hand on his shoulder as Tintin came to his other side, "You have to remember what happened."

"Something happened on the _Unicorn_." Tintin agreed, "It's the key to everything! You must try to remember!"

The captain looked at Tintin in bewilderment, "The _Unicorn_? What? I'm so terribly thirsty…" He turned around, stumbling ahead.

"Captain!" Tintin called out to him.

"_Tintin_! What is happening to me?!" Haddock cried out. Tintin walked behind the man as he stopped, his eyes rolling back for only a short moment before he fell back. Tintin caught him with a grunt and sat down in the sand, both of them panting for breath as Juliet came up to them.

"And to think, all it took was a day in the Sahara." Tintin said to himself. He looked down at the captain, patting his side, "Congratulations, Captain. You're sober."

"Sober…" The word was whispered from the captain's lips, as if he was learning a piece of a new language that he didn't understand. The sound whipping across the dunes into the wind of the desert.

* * *

**Okay, so you guys might actually have to wait a little for the next chapter. This was the last one that I had ready before I started work on chapter 10.**


	10. The Afghar Outpost

10

The winds of the desert grew stronger as time passed, and soon a dust storm was upon them. Tintin managed to make something of a shelter to protect them from the worst of it, but it was still hard to muddle through. He and Juliet were exhausted, and the captain had lost consciousness some time ago. They had both been dragging him through the desert. Tintin's back was to the winds, so he felt every stinging grain of sand as it hit his body. He had kept the three of them close together for warmth, putting Snowy in the middle of it all. After an hour, Tintin was starting to find himself drifting off against his will, and Juliet was just about to collapse. Snowy managed to slip out of their grasp during the storm and ran off somewhere out of Tintin's reach. He tried to call for him, but his throat was so dry and rough from the lack of water on their journey, his words only came out in a soft whisper that Snowy wasn't going to be able to hear through the whipping winds.

Another few hours passed and the storm finally abated. Juliet had fainted from dehydration, and he was the only one awake. He tried to get them both up, tried to carry them both, but once he stood up his body instantly gave way, and he collapsed onto the sandy floor.

The desert sun started to set on the horizon, leaving the three of them on the Sahara floor as night descended on them.

* * *

Snowy howled and barked into the cold desert night, directing the men who he had managed to recruit. They shined their lights on the dog as he waited for them at the top of the dune. Once they were up high enough, he ran down the dune to where Tintin and the others lay, half buried in sand. They came up, and they saw the bodies.

"Good dog." One man praised, giving him a quick rub to the head before he went over to Tintin, checking his pulse. He looked over at the others, "This one's alive, check the others!" He pointed his flashlight to Haddock and Juliet.

"Yes, sir!" He ran over to Haddock while a third man went to Juliet, "Sir, this one's alive, too!"

"And the girl!" The third man shouted.

The lead man nodded, putting his arm around Tintin's shoulders, lifting the unconscious boy up, "Take them back to base, we need to get them medical help as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir!" The two men said, moving the bodies of Juliet and Haddock so that they could carry them. Snowy let out a little whine, looking up at the man who was carrying his master. He looked down at the dog, nodding at him.

"You are a _very_ good dog." He said to him, "Come on, we'll get you some fresh food and water and you can be there when your owner wakes up."

Snowy barked enthusiastically and followed after the three men through the cold sand back to where he had found them.

* * *

Tintin groaned as he slowly started to come to, opening his bleary eyes, trying to remember what happened. "Ohh… Where am I?"

"Oh, you're awake." He looked up to see a man in a white doctor's coat giving him a friendly smile, "We found you out in the desert, unconscious. This is a Belgian outpost in Morocco, you're safe here."

Tintin nodded and tried to sit up, but only succeeded in propping himself up slightly on the pillows, "My head…!" He moaned, reaching up to massage his temples, trying to relieve himself of his pounding headache.

"That's from the dehydration. I'll fetch you some water." He got up, leaving Tintin's side. He took this moment to look around, seeing he was in a typical field hospital. Most of the beds were empty, but he could see Captain Haddock laying down on one just a few feet away. He let out a sigh of relief. He was safe. Good. The doctor returned and handed him the water he promised, "Here, drink slowly or you'll get sick." Tintin did as the man said, sipping at the glass. He kept looking around the room seeing that there wasn't really anyone in there besides him, Haddock, and the nursing staff.

"How is he?" He asked, nodding to Haddock. The doctor glanced up at him.

"He's not yet awake, but we have a feeling that he'll be just fine, thanks to that trusty dog of yours."

"Snowy!" Tintin smiled, feeling a little better and he pushed himself to sit up against the pillows, "Where is he?"

"He's just outside." The doctor replied with a smile, heading over to the door of the building and pulling it open. Snowy came bounding in, barking loudly at Tintin as he ran to his bed and jumped up in his lap. Tintin smiled at the terrier, affectionately scratching at his head and his belly, laughing when he licked at his face. "He's been very worried about you. Hasn't left that spot by the building since we brought you in here."

"You are such a good boy!" Tintin praised his dog, "Yes, such a good dog." Tintin paused, something ticking in the back of his mind. There was something he had forgotten.

"Yes, not even when your lady friend came around. He wouldn't leave that post for a moment." The doctor continued.

Tintin's eyes widened and he looked up at the doctor, "Juliet! Is she alright?"

"She's just fine." The doctor assured him, "Once she woke up, we got her food and drink, as well as replaced the bandage around her arm, she went on her merry way." He pointed to a window and Tintin could see another building just outside the little hospital, "I believe she's somewhere in there getting fitted for some new clothes. We couldn't very well let her walk around in just a torn skirt and dirty shirt, now could we?"

"May I see her?" Tintin asked urgently, already swinging his legs over the side of his bed.

"Well, if you're feeling well enough to walk around, then that's fine, but—Oy!"

Tintin wasn't really listening as he pushed himself up. His headache pounded again but he wouldn't let that stop him. He could feel it receding already as he headed towards the door. He walked out, heading across the small space of the outpost to the other building. He hoped that she was alright, he knew the doctor had said so, but he had to see it for himself. He put his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open.

"Juliet!"

"_Aaah_!"

Tintin could feel his cheeks flushing a bright shade of red. Juliet was fine, but he had walked in when she had been in the middle of changing. She had a pair of light brown trousers on, her red hair falling freely about her shoulders as she quickly pulled either end of the opening of her blouse together, glaring fiercely at Tintin, her own cheeks flushed the same color of red as his. "_Tintin_! Get _out_!"

"S-Sorry!" Tintin quickly shut the door. He stood at the side of the door, his heart pounding in his chest. He had seen her in… undress. Well, not entirely. He had seen a flash of skin, but he was certain he hadn't seen what she had hidden underneath her clothes. He felt the earth shifting as a wave of dizziness took over his mind and he felt his knees hitting the ground as the doctor came running over to him.

"This is what I was trying to warn you about." The doctor admonished, pulling him up by his arms. "Come on, let's get you some more water and rest." Tintin followed along with him, not about to disobey doctor's orders as he led him back to the hospital.

* * *

After getting some more water and rest, Tintin was back on his feet and he was walking about the outpost. He got to meet some of the men who were natives to Brussels, or rather they met him. He was used to people recognizing his face wherever he went, but he never expected it. If he became so popular that everyone in the world knew who he was, it would be very difficult to be able to write stories for the newspaper.

The sun started to make its way to the western horizon as the day went on, painting the clouds from a bright blue to a darker shade of blue, red, and purple. As dinnertime started to approach, he came upon a small group of people who were huddled around a single table. Curious as to what was gathering so much attention, Tintin went over there as well. His eyes widened when he saw three men with cards in their hands, all of them shifting gazes to each other, and Juliet was among them. Her red hair had been pulled back into a braid and she was wearing the white blouse he had seen before. She looked up from her cards, grinning at the men as she put them down on the table. The men all groaned at the sight of her hand.

"Sorry, boys." Juliet said as she gathered up the bills and coins on the table and added them to her growing pile of money.

"That's the third hand in a row!" One man snapped. "She's cheating!"

"Who, me?" Juliet asked, making a mockingly innocent expression, "I would _never_!" She held up her hands, showing that she had her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, "Besides, where would I be able to cheat, hm? I have nothing to put up my sleeves." The man who accused her threw his cards down on the table with a grumble. Juliet laughed, "Don't be such a sore loser, Willem. It's only a few pounds." She gathered up the money, counting it with a satisfied grin. She glanced up, and she stopped when her eyes met Tintin's. He blushed and stepped back from the crowd as Juliet frowned, taking the money and stuffing it into her pocket as she got up from the table, going over to him with a scowl.

Before Tintin could even manage to say "I'm sorry." She punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" He jumped back, his hand rubbing at the spot that she had punched.

"_That_ was for walking in on me!"

Tintin frowned at her, "I'm sorry, alright? I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Didn't the doctor tell you that I was?"

"Yes, but I wanted to see it with my own eyes."

"So you decided to see me when I'm _changing_?"

"I didn't know you were changing!" Tintin said quickly.

"A likely story." Juliet said, rolling her eyes.

"It's the truth!" Tintin said desperately. Juliet let out a "hmph" glaring at him. "It _is_!"

Juliet sighed, "Fine, I guess I'll let you off the hook _this_ time." She said, her eyes narrowing into a glare, "But if it happens again, I can guarantee you it won't end well."

Tintin nodded, "I believe you." And he truly did.

"Oh, and before I forget." Juliet punched his other shoulder.

"Ow!"

"_That_ was for not waking up sooner!"

"What?" Tintin looked at her incredulously as he rubbed his shoulder, "For not… Juliet, I was unconscious, I can't control when I get up!"

"You could have tried!" Juliet snapped, crossing her arms across her chest. Her eyes softened as she looked at him, "I was really worried about you, Tintin."

Tintin sighed. "I didn't mean to worry you. I didn't mean for anything that's happened to us so far to actually happen."

"I know…" Juliet bit her lip, "But… still, it was a little worrisome to know that I was the only one awake out of the three of us."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize. I was the one trying to pick a fight."

"Well, in your defense, I _did_ sort of deserve the first hit." Tintin replied with a small grin.

A smile started to grow on Juliet's face as well, "You're damn right you did." She said, punching his shoulder again, but it was much lighter this time and was no more than a friendly tap.

The smiles dropped when they heard deep chuckles and they looked back at the men who had been watching the card game. Juliet's cheeks flushed a little, and so did Tintin's. They had forgotten that they had an audience.

"What a sweet pair they make." One man said, "Reminds me of when I first met my wife."

"Ain't that the truth." Another man agreed.

"You didn't tell us the young man was your beau, Juliet." One of the younger men said with a teasing grin.

"H-He's not!" Juliet said quickly.

"I'm not!" Tintin said, at the same time Juliet did.

The first man laughed again, "Now that _really_ reminds me of my younger days. Back when I thought girls were nasty creatures." He wiggled his fingers jokingly, making the men around him chuckle.

Juliet's flush deepened and she turned away from the men, looking down at the ground, her back facing them. Tintin, seeing that she was starting to get very flustered took a step from the group, gesturing for her to follow him. "Come on, Juliet. Let's find somewhere else to talk."

"Yeah…" She mumbled, walking behind him as the men still chuckled to themselves, going back to their card game.

They walked away from the group of men and further into the outpost, finding something of a walkway that went around the field. They both started to walk together, taking in any details of the outpost that they might have missed.

"I didn't know you could play cards." Tintin commented as they walked.

Juliet shrugged, "I used to play with my father when I was younger. He taught me the ins and outs of gambling." She smiled, "We used to play poker on rainy days. When I won he gave me a little piece of his dessert at dinner. If he won, he still gave me a piece of his dessert, but he called it a 'consolation prize'."

Tintin smiled, "It sounds like he cares about you a lot."

Juliet nodded, "He really does."

Tintin paused for a moment, thinking. In the short amount of time that he had known Juliet, she had only really spoken about her father, "What about your mother? What's she like?"

"My mother?" Juliet's eyes widened for a moment. She looked down towards the ground, her demeanor having instantly changed.

"If it's too personal, you don't have to tell me." Tintin said quickly.

"No, no, you asked, you might as well find out." Juliet said, she sighed, "My… My mother's been dead for a few years now…"

"I'm sorry." Tintin said softly.

"Thank you." Juliet replied, "But… I really shouldn't have trouble talking about it." She bit on her bottom lip, one hand going over to her shoulder and resting there, "It's been years. I'm used to it by now."

"Being used to something doesn't make it easy." Tintin said, with a small smile he added, "I've been on adventures for a very long time now, but that doesn't mean one mystery is easier to solve than the one before it. If anything, it gets more challenging."

Juliet let a small smile come onto her own face. She looked over at Tintin, "I suppose that's true." She stretched her arms up high above her head with a grunt. "Do you think it will be much longer until Haddock wakes up?" She asked, changing the subject.

"I hope not." Tintin said, "I hope to talk to the man while he's still sober. He should be much easier to communicate with then."

"Let's hope so." Juliet said.

There was a moment of awkward silence between them where neither would make eye-contact with the other.

"So… How have you been feeling since you woke up?" Juliet asked.

"Oh… I've been feeling better." Tintin said, "Like I'm back to myself again."

"That's good." Juliet said.

"I hope the captain wakes up soon." Tintin said, "So he can hurry and tell us what happened on the _Unicorn_."

"Eager to continue the adventure, are we?" Juliet asked with a smile.

Tintin nodded, "Aren't you?"

"Well, I can't deny that I'm curious to see how this all ends." Juliet replied, "But I'm glad for this respite that we have, however brief it may be." She reached up and tucked some loose hair behind her ear.

"Well, yes." Tintin agreed, "It _is_ nice to rest for a moment… But I can't stand just waiting around forever." He turned to Juliet, a spark of fire in his gaze, "I have to know how this ends, and I can't wait to get to Bagghar and get that third scroll. I want to see just what they lead to, as well as what the story of the _Unicorn_ is. I want to see this adventure all the way through to the end."

Juliet stared at him for a moment, taking in his appearance. That determined gleam in his eye, the feet set solidly on the ground, the confident smile on his boyish face. She smiled, "Huh. If I ever doubted that you loved the adventures you take part in, it's gone now."

"Of course." Tintin said, "Everyone loves a good adventure."

"Oh, yes. Everyone _loves_ the thrill of risking your life for a secret you don't yet know." Juliet replied sarcastically, although there was a smile on her face.

"Emphasis on the word 'yet'." Tintin replied, grinning at her.

Juliet let out a snicker, "Seems you're not as dull witted as I thought you were."

"I think there's a lot of things you don't know about me."

"That's very true." She paused, looking up at the multicolored sky, "We don't know very much about each other, and yet look at how far we've come together." Tintin looked over at her, seeing how the dimming sunlight lit up her profile and he felt warmth filling up his body. Juliet was truly a very pretty girl. Why hadn't he noticed that before? Maybe he had been blinded by her sarcastic remarks, or her sharp wit, but it made her very interesting. Most women he met were either very sweet and calm and never really caused any trouble, while Juliet seemed to want to go out and find it. Had that given him some kind of block to her appearance? He wasn't sure. But he was noticing it now, and she was definitely one of the more beautiful girls that he had the pleasure to meet. "I never imagined that I would find myself in Morocco, after a long walk in the Sahara desert." She smiled, "It's been a fantastic adventure."

"But it's not over yet." Tintin said.

Juliet's smile widened, "No, of course not." She gasped, pointing up to the sky, "Look, the evening star!" Tintin looked up, seeing a little star making its way through the darkening sky, twinkling gently in the sunlight. He looked back at Juliet to see her eyes were closed tight and her nose scrunched up. He almost laughed at her expression when she opened her eyes again and looked back at Tintin.

"What was that?" He asked.

"What was what?"

"Your face just now." He tried to imitate it, and Juliet let out a giggle.

"That's just what I do when I make a wish."

"A wish?"

Juliet nodded, "My mother told me that wishing on the evening star when it first appears is good luck, and your wish will come true."

"And just what did you wish for?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out." Juliet grinned at him.

"Another mystery for me to solve?" Tintin asked jokingly.

Juliet giggled again, "Perhaps. We'll see how good your skills of deduction are, after we've figured out the first mystery of the sunken ship."

"I look forward to the challenge."

"As do I."

The pair continued to walk along the path surrounding the outpost, talking about various predictions they had for the secret of the _Unicorn_. This conversation went all the way until they returned to the canteen, where dinner was being served. They took a moment to pause the conversation to eat, but when they weren't chewing, they were talking about different theories. They came up with a wide range of ideas from the _Unicorn_ holding a crew member that had told the pirates exactly where they were so that they could ransack the ship, from the two ships being overtaken by cursed spirits from beyond their watery graves.

They didn't really notice that their conversation was garnering attention from the outpost soldiers, but not one of them dared to interrupt such an in-depth conversation between the pair. They all exchanged the same looks and laughs that they had when they saw Juliet and Tintin speaking to each other before.

Even after dinner had ended, Juliet and Tintin still sat at the table, discussing different ideas with each other as the sun started to sink beyond the horizon and fill the sky with long line of brilliantly bright stars. As the sun went down, it took the warmth it bore with it, and the young pair started to feel the chill of the desert night. They both started to make their way back to the hospital, hoping to take their night's rest on one of their cots since they hadn't really been given anywhere else to sleep. They still talked as they walked back, although eventually, the predictions discussion was left behind.

Juliet shivered, rubbing at her arms, "It's so cold. How is it that the desert can be so blazing hot in the daytime, yet freezing cold at night?"

"I wish I had the answer to that." Tintin replied, "I think that's just how the desert is."

"Ugh, well I don't like it. Let's just hope it's warmer inside." Juliet sighed, hurrying towards the front door and dashing inside, Tintin just behind her. They made their way over to the cots that they had woken up on. After a quick talk with the on-duty nursing staff, they were given permission to sleep in the cots until the next morning.

"Oh, and Miss Ryder?" She looked up when one of the men called her name, holding out the blue skirt she had worn before, "We finished washing your clothes, but are you sure you want it back? I don't think the men would mind seeing a young woman in a skirt so short, but…"

"I don't really intend to wear it." Juliet said as she walked over to take the skirt from him, "I have a seamstress friend back home. I think they might be able to add more to it. I wouldn't want to lose my favorite skirt so soon into our little adventure. Thank you."

"Not a problem." The man replied, "Sleep well." She nodded at him as she left, still holding her folded skirt in her arms.

Tintin looked down at the pair of trousers she wore, and then back up at her, "So, you don't plan on wearing a skirt again?"

"Not until we get home." Juliet put the skirt down on the edge of her bed before taking off her shoes, "I think the trousers I borrowed would be better for this than a simple skirt."

"I won't argue with you there." Tintin said.

Juliet reached back to undo her hair braid, shaking her head to make sure her hair was loose before she slipped underneath the sheets. She smiled at him, "Goodnight, Tintin."

"Goodnight, Juliet." He bid as he moved underneath the sheets of his own cot and started to doze off.

* * *

**Sorry about the wait. I wanted to give a little filler chapter for a little romance. It's not much, but I hope you guys like it!**


	11. The Unicorn

11

The next morning, after getting a well-deserved bath and some filling breakfast, Tintin and Juliet met with the man in charge of the outpost. He was a tall man, well into his thirties. He had light brown hair that had been cut in the traditional soldier crew cut. He had a moustache resting on his upper lip, and a curved pipe rested in his mouth. They had been on their way to check on Haddock, who had woken up some time after they had that morning, and they kept on that path as they spoke to him.

"I am Lieutenant Delcourt," He introduced himself, "Welcome to the Afghar Outpost."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. We owe you our lives." Tintin said.

"How have you found our friend?" Juliet asked, very curious about Haddock's condition.

"Yes… he's not in good shape, I'm afraid." Delcourt said, frowning, "He's still suffering the effects of acute dehydration. He's quite delirious." They made their way to the field hospital and he nodded towards the door, "Why don't we pay him a visit?" He pushed the door open and the young pair followed behind him. They could see Haddock sitting on the small cot, holding a glass of water. He was without his blazer jacket and hat, but he still looked comfortable. "Ah, Haddock! You're awake! Good. I have some visitors for you." He stepped to the side and Juliet and Tintin smiled, happy to know that Captain Haddock was doing well.

"Captain." Tintin greeted him.

"Hello!" The captain greeted happily, then he frowned, "I think you've got the wrong room."

Tintin and Juliet shared a confused glance as they went over to him. "…Captain, it's us."

"And who is 'us' exactly?" Haddock asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"Tintin and Juliet." Juliet gestured to the boy and herself, "Our plane crashed in the desert, remember?" She tried to jog his memory.

"Plane?" Haddock's eyes widened at the mention and he shook his head, "No, no. I'm a naval man myself. I never fly if I can help it." He looked over at Lieutenant Delcourt, who had moved to the side of the bed opposite Tintin and Juliet, "They've probably got me confused with someone else."

"Hmm." The lieutenant replied.

Haddock held up the glass of water to him, "What is this peculiar liquid? There's no bouquet, it's completely transparent."

"Why, it's water!" The lieutenant said.

Haddock's eyes widened as he gazed at the glass, "What will they think of next?" Snowy, having just about had enough of this nonsense, ran off from the bed to another part of the hospital.

"We suspect he has a concussion," The lieutenant began, "Heatstroke, delirium." Snowy found a small pitcher of surgical spirits. Remembering what had happened with the captain on the plane, he picked it up in his mouth and went back to the cot, putting it down on the table beside his cot.

"He's _sober_." Tintin reached for the captain's glass and put it down on the small table, "Now, Captain, out in the desert…"

"Desert?" Haddock repeated in confusion.

"Yes, you were talking about Sir Francis." Tintin found a nearby chair and pulled it up so he could sit down, looking directly at the captain while Juliet took a seat on the nearest cot.

"Sir _who_?" Haddock was still confused.

"Sir Francis!" Tintin repeated. The captain put a hand to his bearded chin, rubbing at it thoughtfully as he tried to figure out what Tintin was telling him.

"He's your ancestor." Juliet chimed in, trying to help jog his memory, "And you were telling us about what happened to him on the _Unicorn_."

"The unicorn!" The captain exclaimed.

"Yes!" Tintin said, smiling hopefully. Had he finally remembered something?

The captain smiled, "Ah, the stuff that dreams are made of. Wee children's dreams."

Tintin's hope started to slowly die, "No, the ship! Oh, _please_ try to remember, Captain. Lives are at risk." He urged.

"Ours, specifically." Juliet muttered. Tintin shushed her and she closed her mouth.

The captain shook his head, and he made to reach for his glass of water. Snowy bit down on the tray that the glass rested on so that Haddock's hand would reach for the spirits instead. Tintin saw this and his eyes widened as he saw Haddock gulping down the drink. "Snowy, what have you done?!"

"Ahh…" Haddock sighed after he had finished his drink. He gasped suddenly and Tintin and Juliet stood up from their seats.

"I'd stand back if I were you." Juliet said professionally as Haddock started to groan, his face turning red. His voice got louder and he grasped at his throat while everyone started to edge away from him with wide eyes. He started to shout as he started to push himself up.

"He's snapped!" Tintin exclaimed, "Everybody out of the room!" He waved everyone out, pushing Juliet in front of him. Snowy had been following along, but as Haddock's groans turned into roars, he whimpered and stopped out of fear, his tail tucked in between his legs. "Snowy!" Tintin ran back for his dog, scooping him up and cradling him as he ran out of the room.

"He's insane!" Delcourt said as he saw Haddock standing on his bed. Tintin moved out of the room into what must have been someone's office and closed the door just has Haddock jumped off the bed.

The closed door didn't do much good, as Haddock soon burst through it, splintering the wood of the door, much to everyone's surprise. With an angry roar he grabbed at the shoulders of two nurses and pushed them out of his way. He went over to a nearby soldier, taking the rapier from its place at his hip and holding it aloft, swinging it menacingly back and forth.

"Show yourself, Red Rackham!" He shouted as the blade knocked against a lantern, knocking it down. He swung the blade around as he turned and started to climb up onto the office desk, "If it's a fight you want, you've met your match!"

"A fight with who?!" Tintin shouted, trying to communicate with the man. He had apparently become engrossed in the story of the _Unicorn_, like he had in the desert.

Haddock pointed his sword out at the space in front of him, glaring at it. "To the death, Red Rackham!" He swung the blade about as the lieutenant shouted for help, saying one of the patients had gone mad. Haddock's blade moved with an impressive flurry, having a swordfight with an invisible man. He backed up and hit the desk, falling onto his back just as the ceiling fan above broke and fell down on top of him. The soldiers all ran into the room, pointing their guns at the captain as he toppled down from the desk with the ceiling fan still against his body.

"No, wait!" Tintin shouted at the soldiers, stepping in front of the captain, telling them not to shoot. They all surrounded him as he seemed to calm down, the barrels of their guns all pointed towards him as Tintin and Juliet moved in front of him. "Wait. Captain…" Tintin waved the guns away as Juliet put her hand on the captain's shoulder.

"What is it?" Juliet asked, keeping her voice soft so that it would help to calm him down.

"I remember everything now." Haddock said softly, a smile coming onto his face, "Everything Granddaddy told me. The _Unicorn_ was taken. And the pirates were now masters of the ship."

"The crew surrendered?" Tintin asked.

Haddock reached out, grabbing Tintin's shoulder, "Granddaddy said that Red Rackham called Sir Francis the King's dog, a pirate hunter sent to reclaim their hard-won plunder."

"Who is Red Rackham?" Tintin asked in confusion.

"Wait, I know that name." Juliet said, getting his attention, "Red Rackham was a famous pirate during the seventeenth century. We had an exhibit on him in my father's museum. They said he stole more ships than most pirates would dare to even think of."

"Sir Francis said that he would sooner die than give up their cargo to him." Haddock continued, "But Red Rackham told him that he would die last, after all his men." He started to push himself to stand up, "To save his men… he would give up the secret cargo." He looked around the office, still lost in the story he was telling.

"And where was it?" Tintin asked.

Haddock went over to the bookshelf and pulled on the spine of one of the books, making it tip back, "…It was hidden in his quarters… the door opened with a switch from the bookcase. Four hundredweight of gold, jewels, and treasure. After he showed Rackham the treasure, he told the pirates to kill his men, going against his word." He moved away from the bookshelf, walking back to the desk, "Sir Francis knew he was doomed, that he'd be hung from the highest yardarm." He moved around behind it, Tintin and Juliet on the other side, completely enthralled in his tale, "But they didn't reckon on one thing!" Haddock smiled at them, "Sir Francis was a Haddock! And a Haddock always has a trick up his sleeve." He reached for a nearby quill, picking it up, "In his hat was a knife, as light as a feather. He used it to cut through the ropes they bound him in and escape. And with that, he hurls himself forward!"

"On the pirates? Like that? Unarmed?" Tintin asked in amazement, if it was true Sir Francis was either very brave, or not very bright.

Haddock shook his head, "No! No, on a bottle of rum rolling on the deck." He reached for a bottle of said drink that was resting on the desk and picked it up, "And he opens it up," He popped the cork off, and the soldiers all pointed their guns at him again, fearful that he might go into another rampage, but they didn't shoot, "And puts it to his lips, and…"

"And then he stops." Juliet said quickly, reaching for the bottle before Haddock could take a drink, ""This is no time for drinking," he says, "I'll need all my wits about me." With that, he puts the bottle _down_." She forced him to put the bottle back on the desk and the soldiers relaxed a little bit.

"Yes, yes, he puts the bottle down." Haddock agrees, looking a little disgruntled at being denied his liquor, "And… And he seizes a cutlass!" He grabbed a sword from another man and the guns were raised again. "And then he makes his way to the ship's magazine, where they keep all the gunpowder, and the shot. He takes a barrel of the stuff," Miming a barrel in his hands, he walks around the desk, bent over, "And he makes a trail leading up to the top deck. And just before he has a chance to blow the ship to smithereens, Red Rackham appears and tries to stop him. And there's a furious swordfight!" Haddock waves the blade around and the soldiers point their guns at him, while also trying to avoid getting cut by the sword.

"Gentlemen, I think it's best if you step outside for a moment— Ah!" She ducked down to avoid the blade. The soldiers don't need to be told twice as Haddock starts advancing on Tintin, his mind still lost in his grandfather's story. Once Juliet had gotten all of the soldiers out of the room, Haddock had calmed down, thinking over something that had happened. The men still waited on the other side of the door, waiting to see if Haddock still needed to have a bullet put somewhere on him.

Tintin was holding on to the leg of the desk, looking up at Captain Haddock with wide eyes as he stilled the blade in his hands. He looked down at Tintin, "You…"

"Captain, what is it?" Tintin asked, remaining still in case Haddock decided to continue the swordfight.

Haddock moved the sword down and he looked around the room, lost in thought as he talked to himself, "How could I be so blind?"

"What are you talking about?" Tintin asked, pushing himself up now that the captain had calmed down. Juliet stepped further into the room, curious to hear what Haddock meant as well.

"This isn't just about the scrolls… or the treasure that went down with the ship." Haddock murmured, starting to slowly pace through the room, "It's _me_. It's me he's after… He wants vengeance." He turned around looking at the two kids as he let the sword fall from his hands, "Hurry, kids." He walked up to them, grabbing them both by the shoulder.

"What?" Tintin asked confusedly.

"We're out of time." Haddock said hurriedly as he pushed them towards the window on the other side of the office.

"Captain?" Juliet asked worriedly.

Captain Haddock pushed them both out the window of the office. They both let out a cry, thankful to be landing in a pile of hay than on the ground, Haddock jumping down after them. Once the hay had finished falling around them, Haddock pushed himself up into a more comfortable position in the pile.

"It's not over. It was never over!" He said.

"I don't understand. Who's after your blood?" Tintin asked.

"Sakharine." Haddock growled out.

"Sakharine? Why?" Tintin asked.

"He's _Red Rackham's descendant_!" Haddock said, "He needs to finish it!"

Tintin's eyes widened in realization, "That's why he did it…" He murmured.

"What?" Juliet asked, now confused by both ends of the story.

"Sank his own ship." Tintin specified, "Sir Francis sent that treasure to the bottom of the sea." He looked at Haddock, trying to keep him engrossed in the story mindset, "He would be damned before he let Red Rackham have it."

"And he was." Haddock said.

"But he couldn't let it lie." Tintin said.

"No." Haddock agreed.

"He left a clue." Tintin continued excitedly, the gears turning and clinking in his mind, "Three clues wrapped in a riddle concealing a secret, but only a _true_ Haddock would be able to solve it." He reached out, squeezing Haddock's shoulder.

"What secret?" Haddock asked.

"The location," Tintin's grin grew wider, "To one of the greatest sunken treasures in all history."

"The wreck of the _Unicorn_?" Juliet asked as she realized what was going on. Tintin looked to her and nodded.

"He means to steal it." Haddock said softly, his drunken mind slowly figuring out what Sakharine's plans were, "The third scroll." His face twisted to one of anger as he cursed, "Billions of blue blistering barnacles, I _swear_," He slammed his fist down on the side of the cart that contained the hay they all sat in, "As the last of the Haddocks, I'll find that treasure before him!"

"To Bagghar." Tintin held out his hand to the Captain.

Captain Haddock spat in his palm before meeting it with Tintin's, "To Bagghar!" He agreed heartily as they shook on it.

* * *

"Thank you again for this map, Lieutenant." Tintin said as he and Lieutenant Delcourt stepped out of his office, rolling up the map in his hands.

"My pleasure, Tintin." The man replied, he looked over at where Haddock was trying and failing, to mount one of the camels, which was still standing, they had given to them to travel, as the port of Bagghar was a good trip away and cars don't exactly run well in sand. "And don't take this the wrong way, but could you make sure you don't come back? The camels are yours to do with as you please."

Tintin grinned, "I understand, Lieutenant. If we ever do happen to find ourselves at your outpost again, however, I'll make sure Haddock is a bit more polite." He held out his hand to the man, and he shook it.

"Thank you." He reached up and patted Tintin's shoulder, "Have a safe trip, then!"

"Thank you, sir." Tintin said as he made his way over to the camels, checking to make sure that all the supplies they would need for this journey were attached and within arms-reach.

"The tall one is mine!" A voice hollered from behind him as he saw Juliet walking over to them. She bumped her hip against Tintin, making him stumble to the side as she went up to the camel, "I've already claimed it." She smirked at him as she reached up, petting the camel's neck as it drank from the outpost water reserves.

"You can't claim a camel ahead of the trip." Tintin replied, "And I never said that I wanted this one anyway."

"Good, because it's mine." Juliet said. Tintin sighed, shaking his head.

"Very well, this is the one you're riding." He said. "What difference does it make?"

"I'm a possessive person and I like to make sure what I claim stays mine." Juliet said.

"Yes, alright…" Tintin said with a sigh as he went over to the last remaining camel, "That's rather childish of you, you know."

Juliet scoffed, "Well, there's no point to being mature if you can't act like a child sometimes."

Tintin rolled his eyes, although she couldn't see it. He turned around to see her adding a small rolled up piece of linen to the load on its back, which he recognized as her torn skirt. She was still wearing the same trousers as everyone else at the outpost, and her hair had once again been pulled back into a braid. His eyes trailed over her arm, where he could see some gauze wrapped around the cut that she had gotten from the plane wreck. He remembered how scared she had been in that plane ride, and he couldn't entirely blame her, but then there was also how she needed time to calm herself after their escape from the Karaboudjan. He looked up at the camels, knowing that their oncoming journey was going to be a long one, and getting the third scroll wasn't going to be easy.

"Juliet," She turned around to face him with a smile, but as she looked at Tintin's concerned expression, it slowly fell, "Perhaps it's best if you stay here."

"Excuse me?" She asked in surprise.

"I'm sure the men here could find a way home for you." Tintin said, "You could go back to Brussels, go home, leave this entire mess behind you."

"And what makes you think I want to do that?" Juliet asked, planting her hands on her hips as she looked at him.

"Well… It's just…" He nodded towards her arm, "I have a feeling this won't be an easy task, and I thought that… you might want to return home. After all, it's been a long trip and you haven't exactly come out unscathed."

"And I haven't exactly come out completely broken either." Juliet replied, "I'm coming with you, Tintin. There's no way I'm going to miss out on an adventure like this, after _all_ that we've been through!" The camel lifted its head up, telling her that it was done drinking and she tugged on the reigns as the soldiers had instructed her to do and the camel knelt down. Before she had a chance to mount the creature, Tintin reached out, purposefully putting his hand over the cut on her arm and pulling her back, "Ow! What are you…?"

"You're injured." Tintin said pointedly, "And if you come with us, there's a chance that could happen again. Maybe even worse than this."

"That same chance applies to you, too, you know." Juliet said, reaching up to pull Tintin's hand off of her arm. She still hung onto it as she looked up at him, "I appreciate what you're doing, Tintin. I do, but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." She grinned at him, "And take care of _you_, if need be."

"You've already gotten hurt because you came with us." Tintin said, "You could have stayed home."

"Yes, I could have." Juliet replied, "But I didn't. I followed my gut and came after you, and I haven't regretted a single moment of it so far, don't make me start regretting it now."

Tintin sighed, "You're just as stubborn as you are pretty…" He muttered under his breath. Juliet quirked her head to the side curiously, not sure of what he had said, "Fine. But I expect you to take care of yourself like you said."

"Of course." She smiled at him.

"And stay out of harm's way."

"I will if you will."

"And don't start any trouble with Sakharine."

"Now _that_ I can't promise."

"Juliet…"

"Oh, just go with it, Tintin."

He was quiet for a moment, before he nodded, "Very well."

Juliet's smile grew. "Wonderful."

They both glanced down at the same time, and their faces both flushed when they saw that their hands were still joined. Juliet released it and hid her hands behind her back, letting out an awkward laugh. "Ha, ha… Sorry."

"Uh, it's fine." Tintin said. The other camel lifted its head up from the reserves and Tintin tugged on the reigns, getting it to kneel down as Juliet mounted her camel.

"Up!" She commanded, and the camel moved to stand.

Tintin called for Snowy, who came running over to his master and he put him in his lap where he would be comfortable on their trip. Then he mounted the camel himself and they both went over to where Haddock was getting help in mounting the camel from the soldiers. Once he was upright and balanced, they left the outpost, bidding their goodbyes to those they had met and made friends with as they started to make their way through the Sahara desert to the port of Bagghar.

* * *

"_I'll sing you a song, a good song of the sea._"

"Way, hey, blow the man down."

"_I trust that you'll join in the chorus with me._"

"Give me some time to blow the man down."

Tintin glanced back at Haddock, who had insisted on teaching an unwilling Juliet his favorite sea shanty. He couldn't ask Tintin because he was the navigator for their journey, and he wouldn't want to interrupt something that important. At first, Juliet had just given plain and simple dismissals, but it slowly turned into an argument between them, then it turned into an all-out shouting match which Tintin eventually quieted, telling them to save their energy for something more important. He told Juliet it wouldn't kill her to learn a new song, since she had nothing better to do while they were on this voyage, and she gave in. He had been teaching her the lyrics for the past half hour. Tintin knew that their destination wasn't too far away, so it would be over soon. It was for the best, the song was starting to get stuck in his head. Haddock was singing the first half of the lines while Juliet sang the chorus, which sounded very monotone and unpleasing to the ears since she was determined to show the captain it was a bad idea. It didn't really work, since the captain himself had a terrible singing voice.

"_I'm a deep water sailor just come from Hong Kong._"

"To me way, hey, blow the man down."

"_If you'll give me some whiskey, I'll sing you a song._"

"…If I give you some whiskey, you'll do a lot more than that." Juliet muttered. Tintin couldn't help the little snicker that came out of him.

The ground beneath them had long since changed from sand to soil as they neared the port. The outpost, as it turns out, had been on the very edge of the Sahara, and after only ten minutes of travelling, they were on solid ground. Well, as solid as the ground could be when it was so close to the largest desert in the world. He was thankful for the change of scenery after seeing nothing but miles of sand yesterday. He was also glad that they were getting so close to their goal. According to the map, if they just traversed over the hill they were currently climbing, Bagghar should be on the other side.

"Ah, come on, lass! Sing the line!" Haddock snapped, choosing to ignore what she had said about the whiskey.

"Give me some time to blow the man down." She rolled her eyes.

"_'Lay aft' is the cry, 'to the break of the poop.'_"

"To me way, hey, blow the man down."

"_Or I'll help you along with the toe of my boot._"

"Give me some time to blow the man down." She sighed, "Captain, I've had just about enough of this. May we stop now?"

"Oh, but we haven't even gotten to the best part!" Haddock said with a childish whine.

"If you sing again, I'm not going to." Juliet said with a tone of finality, "My throat feels a tad dry." She reached down on her saddle, picking up the canteen that held her supply of water, twisting the cap open and taking a few sips from it.

"Bah, fine." Captain Haddock scoffed, waving his hand at her in dismissal. He slumped on his seat as they moved over the earthy ground.

They reached the top of the hill, and they could see the sultanate of Bagghar stretched out before them. The city lied in between the two mountains, encasing it like a bowl that tipped out into the Atlantic Ocean. At the highest part of the town rested a beautiful palace where the sheik undoubtedly lived. The town had buildings that were crowded together all along the hillside, as if they had all been pushed down from the mountain where the palace rested. The sun was high in the sky as Tintin looked out over the port, seeing a familiar ship waiting in its waters.

"He's here." He said. Haddock and Juliet looked out into the port, seeing the _Karaboudjan_. They both frowned. Sakharine had gotten there ahead of them, meaning he had a head start on getting to the third scroll.

* * *

**Sorry about the lateness. I hope you like it!**


	12. The Palace of Sheik Ben Salaad

12

The three of them moved through the crowded roads of Bagghar, doing their best to ignore the many street vendors as they shoved their products in their faces, be it jewelry, food, snow globes, and various other kinds of memorabilia. Tintin checked behind him every now and then to make sure that Captain Haddock and Juliet hadn't gotten lost in the crowd, as well as Snowy, but he trusted his dog to follow their scent if they happened to get separated. As they moved through the streets, they could see people at water pumps, futilely pumping them for only a few drops of water to fill their buckets. A manmade ravine ran through the town, and it was bone dry. The fountains were bare of any water and were out of use. Tintin remembered seeing the pictures of Sheik Ben Salaad's palace that showed a beautiful, sparkling pool with many luxurious fountains. He wouldn't have been surprised if he had full access to the water in town and kept as much as he could for himself. As angry and upset that he was for knowing that these people's leader was so greedy, he couldn't worry about those troubles now. He had to focus on getting to the third scroll before Sakharine. But he had to find him first.

"It's no good." Haddock said, putting his hand on Tintin's shoulder to try and keep pace with him, "They could be anywhere."

As much as Tintin hated to admit it, he was right. In a place as crowded as this, Sakharine's men could easily find them and they wouldn't even notice. Of course, they had the same chance of finding them, so the odds were even in that sense. He turned around watching as Juliet caught up with them and Tintin's gaze moved behind her, eyes widening when he saw two figures cloaked in white, walking side by side. That was the second time he'd seen them now. He was certain they were following him. He turned around, hanging onto the captain's arm, locking his other one with Juliet's, who looked up at him curiously as they walked around a corner, at a much slower, more leisurely pace.

"Don't look now," He whispered to them, "But we're being followed." He released the captain's arm, but still kept his own linked with Juliet's as the captain turned around, making it look as though he were dazed as he got a look at the pair who were following them.

"Yes, so we are." He whispered back, straightening himself, cracking his knuckles in the process.

Juliet glanced back over her shoulder, frowning when she saw the two hooded figures. She looked back in front of them, her gaze going over to an alley way that had enough space to hide them. "This way." She whispered to Tintin, using their linked arms to direct him over to it, the captain and Snowy following them.

Once they were in the alley, they waited until they heard the synchronized footsteps of their followers and Juliet stuck out one foot, the captain doing the same on the other side, successfully tripping the two men and causing them to topple over onto the ground.

"Why are you following us?" Juliet demanded of the two men. Haddock pushed her aside as he went down, grabbing the men by the collars of their clothes and pulling them up to push their heads back down on the stony ground.

"_Who_ are _you_ working _for_?!" He snarled, pushing them down with every emphasized word. Their faces were now revealed in the sunlight, and Tintin's eyes widened when he saw the canes they were swinging around in their disorientation. Underneath the hoods of their cloaks, Tintin could see a pair of bowler hats and a pair of moustaches, one curved, one straight.

"Captain, stop! Stop!" He went over to the captain, pulling him off of the two men as they started to push themselves up, "Thompson and Thomson!"

"Not so loud, we're in disguise!" Thompson hissed at him as his partner pulled himself up with a sigh.

"So I see." Tintin said, looking over their appearance, which hadn't really changed beyond the two of them wearing a simple white robe over their regular suits. "You got the message I sent from the ship." He looked up at the two of them hopefully.

"Yes, well… bit of a long story, that." Thompson said, seeming not so eager to tell the tale of how they got the message.

"The upshot is we caught the thief, retrieved your wallet, then hopped on the next plane to Bagghar." Thomson said.

"Yes, that pocket picker has picked his last pocket. Here," Thompson said, he reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out Tintin's wallet, handing it to him. Tintin eagerly swiped it from his hand, quickly going through its contents, "Don't worry, he didn't take any money."

"It's not the money I'm worried about." Tintin said, after flipping through one of the folds, he stopped, and then he smiled, pulling out the scroll, and bringing it up into the light. His smile grew triumphantly as he looked at the words written in Old English, "The odds are even." He placed the scroll back into his wallet, tucked safely between the folds and closing it, "Now to find the next two scrolls." As he started to put his wallet into the back pocket of his pants, Tintin glanced up at where two men were unrolling a large poster over one of the walls of the city. He stopped as he read the first few words printed out at the top, "The Milanese Nightingale." The rest of the group looked up as they watched the poster continue to unroll, showing a beautiful picture of a blonde woman with shining blue eyes and ruby red lips that had been turned up into an elegant smile. Underneath her picture he read,

_The world famous opera singer_

_Bianca Castafiore_

_One performance only_

"…It's a woman." Juliet said, her eyebrows rising up in surprise. Snowy cocked his head to the side curiously as he gazed up at it.

"_That's_ his secret weapon?" Tintin asked softly as he looked up at the poster.

Thomson, Thompson, and Haddock joined the pair in looking up at the poster.

"My." Thomson said in awe as he looked up at her.

"My." Thompson said the same thing, equally as awed as his partner.

"What a dish." Captain Haddock said as he stared up at the portrait.

Juliet turned to the captain with a dry expression, "Charming, Archibald. Very charming."

"What?" Haddock asked, frowning at her. "A man's not allowed to call a lady pretty?"

"No, but the way you said it… Never mind." She stopped herself, "I'm not in the mood for a debate at the moment." She sighed, "You're just being a _man_."

"That I _am_." Captain Haddock said, puffing out his chest proudly. He paused for a moment, and then turned to her, "Wait, are you saying that in a bad way or a good way?"

"Let's just say that I've said it and that it doesn't matter for our present situation." Juliet told him with that same tone of finality she had used before. She looked back up at the poster, "I didn't think Sakharine would choose _her_ for a weapon of any kind."

"Do you know her?" Thompson asked.

"Not personally, but I know _of_ her." Juliet replied, "From what I've been told, she's an excellent soprano, but I don't think she's the kind of person who would help Sakharine. She's already got hundreds of thousands of pounds stacked away from her career. I don't think she would have any interest in the treasure."

"She wouldn't." Tintin replied, "She sings just for the love of singing." Juliet quirked a curious brow as she looked at him.

"How would you know?" She asked.

"I interviewed her once." Tintin said. He turned to Thomson and Thompson, "I'm going to need you gentlemen to stay in town a little longer. We may have need of you two and your resources before long."

"Tintin!" The two men nodded their heads towards their young friend, showing that they were ready to help him when he needed them.

Tintin turned to his two companions, "And I think _we've_ got an opera to crash."

"I like where this is going." Juliet replied with a grin.

* * *

"This is ridiculous." Juliet muttered as she adjusted the white robe Tintin had taken from Thomson just before they had left to their hotel. She pulled the hood up over her head, pulling the material over her face to hide her appearance, much like the fashion of many of the women in Bagghar.

"Well this event is formal dress, and you don't have one." Tintin replied, "Just muddle through it, act feminine, and we might just sneak our way inside."

Juliet sneered at Tintin in a very unfeminine way before pulling up a scarf to cover her nose and mouth. She didn't say anything more as they walked up the path to the front door of Ben Salaad's palace. There were a few cars driving past them and stopping at the guarded gate. There was also a small gathering of people who were getting out, speaking to the guards to make sure that they were allowed inside.

Tintin felt back for his wallet. He looked warily at the estate, knowing that Sakharine and his men were waiting for them somewhere inside. If they caught him, there was a good chance that Sakharine would take the wallet before killing him. He looked back at his companions. Juliet was disguised, but he knew that once she had a chance, she'd take it off. Sakharine would recognize her right away. And then there was Captain Haddock… It seemed he didn't have much choice. He pulled the scroll out of his pocket and turned to Haddock, keeping his voice low so that no one would hear him.

"Here. I want you to look after this." He said. Haddock looked down at his hand, and his eyes widened, taking a few steps back. Tintin and Juliet looked at him oddly, he knew they were supposed to be keeping a low profile if they wanted to get in, so why did he look like someone had just told him he was about to be knighted? "What are you doing?"

"Me?" Haddock asked.

"Yes." Tintin said, stepping closer, trying to make the captain's actions seem rational to the guards ahead of them.

"Are you sure?" Haddock asked.

"If I'm caught, I don't want them to find this on me." Tintin whispered. "Look, just keep it hidden." He forced the scroll into Haddock's hand, and he grasped it. He looked at Tintin with a grateful smile as he held onto the scroll, touched that Tintin would trust him to look after something so valuable.

He knelt down on the ground, starting to make a vow to Tintin, "I will guard this with my life!"

"Stop that! Get up!" Juliet hissed as she and Tintin pulled him to his feet. Haddock tucked the scroll away into his jacket, wearing a pleased grin on his face as the three of them made their way to the palace entrance.

When they approached the guard, he looked at the three of them, easily recognizing that the two men were foreigners.

Tintin cleared his throat as he looked up at the man, "Hello, we are the escorts to… Madame Zaltana." Juliet's nose scrunched up at the name, knowing that it was from one of those mechanical fortune telling machines. Thankfully no one could see it under the disguise, "And she very much wishes to see Bianca Castafiore perform, so if you could please stand aside…"

The guard held out his hand, and Tintin was terrified that he was going to ask for tickets that they didn't have, "Entry fee is three pounds." He said.

Tintin inwardly let out a breath of relief, "A bit expensive for an entry fee, isn't it?" He asked as he reached into his wallet to get the money the man wanted. He didn't say anything in reply to Tintin as he stood aside, pocketing the money and letting them pass him. Once they were a safe distance away, Tintin heard Juliet let out a sigh of relief.

"I was so afraid he was going to ask us for tickets." She whispered to him.

"Me too." Tintin said softly.

"So, can I take this thing off now?" She asked, reaching up and pulling down the scarf on her face. Tintin shook his head.

"Not yet. Sakharine's men could be anywhere and could spot us very easily. If you're dressed like that, it's less likely that you'll be recognized. Keep it on just to be safe." Juliet rolled her eyes, pulling the scarf back up.

"Fine."

The three of them walked through the estate, seeing green grass growing all around them, with well-groomed topiaries on either side of the entry path. The palace itself was very large, and they could see a lovely garden just outside the palace gates that had many beautiful, exotic flowers, as well as a surprisingly large amount of statues. Tintin was able to recognize some of them, all of them being from different eras of the world. There was one that looked as though it was done around the time of the renaissance, and another that looked like it had been made a few centuries prior to that. There were many that he couldn't place, mostly because he had not studied history beyond the late 14th century. There were some that looked positively ancient, maybe they had been made sometime during the reign of Babylon. He couldn't be sure, and he also didn't want to spend his time gawking as they made their way inside the palace. They were directed to another room, an open air patio that had been luxuriously decorated with azure blue tiles all along the floor, marble columns that held up a ceiling with a gorgeous mosaic of a flower. There were many statues as well, all of them stood on a pathway behind an incredible fountain with a surprisingly realistic crab statue. The path was beyond the cover of the roof, until the end, where it led out to a beautifully blue body of water. The water glittered in the sunlight, and he could easily see what lay beneath the surface. It seemed the sheik was keeping most of the water for himself and not sharing it with the people he ruled over.

As disgraceful as he found it, Tintin didn't comment on it as he found some seats for the three of them. When they walked in, they had all been given some opera glasses so as to see the show better if they chose to sit in the back rows, which they would. All around them were well dressed people of great wealth, some of them wearing lovely ball gowns and tuxedos, or military uniforms, and others wore elegant robes that were more suited to the style of Bagghar. As he looked around, Tintin could see plenty of guards that were armed with powerful automatic weapons, the latest in their class. He gulped nervously as he sat down, listening as classical music started up. The audience moved into their seats and the sheik moved to his own seat in the very front of the stage, wanting to get the best view.

A murmur of joy went through the audience and Tintin looked up, seeing Bianca Castafiore making her way to the stage that had been set up for her, wearing an elegant, ruffled purple gown. Everyone stood up as they welcomed her with applause.

"That's her." Haddock whispered excitedly, clapping enthusiastically at her entrance. Juliet rolled her eyes at his reaction. Tintin's eyes were more focused on his surroundings rather than the opera singer. He stopped clapping when he glanced out behind Castafiore, and saw a glass container that held a model ship standing proudly at the end of the statue-decorated pathway that led out to the dam. He realized that must be where Ben Salaad keeps his model ships and he used his opera glasses to get a better look, seeing that the _Unicorn_ model was the one at the end. He could see the slight distortion of the bullet proof glass, as well as the small logo in the corner that read "Bullet proof. Nev-r-break."

As the applause started to quiet, they all moved back into their seats, Juliet lowering the scarf from her face as she watched the sheik wave his hand at Castafiore, as if giving her permission to sing. She started doing just that, letting out a strong voice that trilled along the walls of the stage she had been given before she started to sing _Je Veux Vivre_. The captain let out a few grunts, getting used to the sound of her voice as it trailed up higher and higher with the music.

"Blistering barnacles…" He muttered, plugging one ear with his finger, "What's that noise?"

Juliet shushed him. Although she had to admit, hearing Bianca Castafiore's voice was a little straining on the ears, as she was hitting some very high notes.

Haddock gasped softly as he put his fingers in his ears, his eyes wide, "My ears…! They're bleeding…!" He whispered, holding out his hands to show the 'blood' that was on them, but they were completely clean.

"No, they're not." Tintin hissed at him.

The captain was not a fan of opera, it seemed. He let out a low groan and started thumping his head against the back of the chair of the person in front of him, drawing attention from the others around them.

"Captain!" Tintin hissed at him again, wanting him to stop. They had to be ready for any attack that Sakharine might have for them, and they couldn't do that if Haddock kept acting this way. Snowy whimpered as he listened to the music, scooting back as if he could get away from it, before rolling over on his back, trying to cover up his ears with his little paws, "Shut up, Snowy." Tintin whispered urgently.

Juliet reached up to plug one ear, feeling that the captain was in the right to complain about her voice, but she wasn't about to do the same thing he was.

"Oh, Columbus, it's every man for himself!" Haddock gasped as he stood up, someone shushing him when he spoke. He started to make his way through the rows of chairs, much to the surprise of the audience members, "Make way. Make way. Medical emergency." He said as he stumbled through the crowd. He made his way over to a table, yanking off the tablecloth, all of the food and drinks that rested on it remained in place, however as he pulled it over his head and ran outside to where he could better avoid the noise. Once he was safely away to where Castafiore's singing was tolerable, he reached into the inside of his coat, pulling out a bottle of whiskey. At the same time, he also pulled out the scroll. He watched as it fluttered in the air for a moment before quickly grabbing at it, making sure the wind didn't blow it away.

Once he caught it, he looked down at the piece of paper, remembering the promise he had made to Tintin that he would keep it safe. He glanced over at the whiskey bottle in his hand, then back at the scroll. What was more important right now? Having a mind-numbing drink, or protecting a valuable scroll. Haddock knew the answer and he put the bottle down on a nearby table, tucking the scroll back into his pocket, deciding not to have a drink at all. "That was close." Something caught his eye and he turned to see Tom grinning at him.

"Hello, Captain." He greeted him.

"You…" Captain Haddock felt a great amount of fury building up inside of him at the sight of one of his former crewmates. Before he had a chance to unleash that fury, something smashed against the back of his head and he lost consciousness, seeing Allan standing over him with the neck of the broken bottle of whiskey he had put down before blacking out.

Meanwhile, Tintin was still keeping an eye out for any of Sakharine's men. Juliet doing the same, both of them trying to be discreet as the guards moved around the audience. Tintin turned around, seeing that there was a balcony above the crowd behind him, and he saw a man moving to rest against it. He recognized him right away as Sakharine looked down at the stage, not even giving Tintin a second glance. He reached over, nudging Juliet's arm, his eyes never leaving Sakharine's form as she turned around, following his gaze and glaring at the man as he looked down at Bianca Castafiore. Snowy hadn't taken notice of it as he was still whining as he tried to hide under Tintin's chair.

Sakharine held out a gloved hand and a falcon flew over, resting on his wrist as he kept watching the stage.

"Why does he have a falcon with him?" Juliet whispered to Tintin as quietly as she could so as not to disturb the others. Tintin brought up the opera glasses to get a better look at the man. He looked at the falcon, and listened as Castafiore's song started to approach the climax and his eyes widened.

"Oh, no." He muttered, turning his attention to the glass case of the _Unicorn_, watching as it shook under the power of her voice. He stood up from his seat, looking up at Sakharine, both a little impressed that he had formulated such a plan to get the model, and also a little disappointed in himself for not figuring it out sooner. "Sakharine…"

Juliet winced as Bianca Castafiore's voice trilled up higher and higher as the time came for it, and she gasped when the glass of the woman next to her shattered. The Sheik's glasses cracked and a tray of crystal glasses were broken as well. Her voice kept going higher and higher, cracks forming in the bulletproof glass of the _Unicorn_'s casing. Everyone gasped, jumping up when the two crystal chandeliers that hung above them came crashing down. And as her voice hit the highest note, the glass around the model shattered completely, leaving the model open to whoever wanted to take it.

Sakharine released his falcon, which flew over the crowd, and Bianca Castafiore let out a scream as it flew over her, and she ducked down.

"The falcon! Snowy, after him!" Tintin commanded his little terrier, who was more than happy to do so now that the song had stopped.

Haddock, having regained consciousness a moment ago, came running back inside, waving his arms to Tintin, trying to get his attention among all the chaos as everyone started to panic, not knowing just why the falcon had been set loose among them. "Tintin! Tintin!" He shouted to his friend, and he looked over at him.

Sakharine, seeing a perfect opportunity appear now that Haddock had revealed himself. "Those three! There!" He pointed down to Tintin, Juliet and Haddock, "They're here to steal your ship!"

"No, no, no! We're not!" Juliet said urgently as the guards pointed their guns at them.

"Arrest him!" Ben Salaad commanded, "The ugly one!" He pointed to Haddock as he moved about the crowd.

"Who, me?!" Haddock demanded, very offended at being called the 'ugly one.'

"Yes!" Ben Salaad kept pointing at him, "Thief! Arrest him!" In moments, guards were surrounding Haddock on all sides, grabbing his arms and trying to pull him away from the crowd. He was quick to fight back, punching out the nearest man.

Juliet and Tintin went to help him, but the crowd was quick to get ushered out from the panic of it all.

Snowy ran across the tiled floor to where the falcon had swooped down, pushing the model to the ground, ripping out the mast with its talons to get at the metallic cylinder. Snowy growled and barked at the bird as it flew up, cylinder in its beak. Snowy ran after it, seeing it go right back to Sakharine, who took it with a smile and he turned around, heading to another part of the palace to get away.

"Captain!" Tintin called out, finally able to work his way through the crowd to the man as he knocked out the last of the Sheik's guards. Juliet did the same, tossing the cloak off of her as she ran after Tintin, glad to finally be rid of the thing. Snowy caught up with them and she motioned for the dog to follow them as Tintin grabbed the captain's arm and they ran out of the palace heading for an exit.

"Sakharine's got the scroll!" Tintin told the captain as they headed out another way, not wanting to run into any more guards if they ran with the crowd.

"It's worse than that, Tintin." Haddock said with a groan.

"What do you mean?" Tintin asked as he looked around the exit of the hall, searching for a way to get out.

"They got your scroll, Tintin." He froze and turned back to the captain as he walked ahead, putting his hand to his bearded chin, grabbing at it nervously, starting to pace. "It's gone."

"How?! What happened?!" Tintin asked urgently.

"It was Allan!" Haddock quickly explained, "H-He knobbled me in the garden, a-and there was a bottle of alcohol…"

Tintin felt his hopes sinking down into his stomach. He should have known better. Haddock had been a drunkard from the start, of course he would lose the scroll when he was having a drink. "There always is." Tintin said scathingly as he started to march ahead.

"No, no!" Haddock said quickly, reaching out to Tintin, grabbing him by the shoulders and giving him a friendly smile, "No, not like _that_."

Tintin pushed the captain's hands away with an angry glare. "I can smell it on you."

The captain's eyes widened at his calm, yet angry response, as did Juliet's. In those words alone were Tintin's tangible disappointment and frustration towards the captain in losing the scroll. She had never heard him speak to the captain like that. On this entire adventure, he had always believed that the captain was on their side, there to help them, and he was. He just had a bit of a drinking problem that had caused all of them a good deal of problems, too. But, admittedly, Juliet found that the captain was starting to grow on her. Once you got past the initial smell and strange behavior, he was actually a good man. But it seemed that Tintin thought that he was more hurtful than helpful to their mission.

Tintin briskly walked around him, heading outside. The captain looked after him sadly, hurt by his hateful words. Juliet glanced up at the captain, and at Tintin's back, a little torn between the two men. She started after Tintin, patting Haddock's shoulder as she ran. He glanced at the redheaded girl as she looked over her shoulder, nodding at him, silently telling him to come along as she went after the young man. Haddock shook his head of his depressing thoughts, took in a deep breath and followed the girl as they ran out to the palace entrance.

* * *

**Ta-da! We're getting so close to the end, it's kinda sad. I think it's just going to be two or three more chapters and then this one will be done.**


	13. The Pursuit of the Falcon

13

Tintin ran out to the front of the palace, where he saw a red car driving away with Sakharine inside. He could see the three scrolls in his grasp as they started to make their way down the hill.

The Sheik was still calling out to his guards as his guests fled from the palace, telling them to hurry and arrest them. One of the guards came running up to Tintin, carrying some heavy firearms and looked ready to use them. Before he had a chance to load the gun, Tintin ran over and hit him in the jaw, successfully knocking him down as he looked around for some kind of vehicle to help him go after Sakharine as Juliet and Haddock came up behind him.

"Tintin! Where are you going?!" Haddock said as he followed behind the young man. He wouldn't even look at the captain as he marched away, seeing a motorcycle parked just a little ways away.

"I'm going after Sakharine." He said.

"By yourself?!" Juliet asked as she walked quickly to match his pace.

"Yes." Tintin snapped as he went over to the bike. "Come on, Snowy!" The little terrier barked and went after his master. Juliet let out a frustrated sigh, turning to the captain, who shared a confused glance with her. She gestured for him to keep following as she went over to Tintin as he mounted the bike. When he put his hands on the handles, Juliet stopped him, placing her hand on top of his. He looked up at her and was surprised at the determined look in her eyes.

"If you think I'm letting you go after that devil of a man by yourself, you're wrong." She said, "I'm staying with you. Whether you like it or not."

Tintin stared at her for a moment, wondering if he would be able to convince her not to come with him, as the space in the sidecar was limited and he could see Captain Haddock making his way over to them, swinging a rocket launcher on his shoulder that smacked the head of the soldier Tintin had punched, making him fall to the ground again. He was bound to take that seat, and Tintin wasn't really in a position to stop him. He couldn't have it on his conscience if he let a man he knew was innocent of his accused crime get arrested for it. They were short on time if he wanted to catch up to Sakharine.

He sighed, "Fine. Get on." Juliet gave him a small, relieved smile and moved to sit behind him on the motorcycle as Haddock took a seat in the sidecar with Snowy jumping into his lap. He twisted the handles, hearing the bike's engine roar to life. Juliet moved her arms around his middle and pulled herself closer to him as the bike started up and they moved down the road from the palace, hearing Ben Salaad still shouting at his guards to catch them. Tintin tried to ignore the butterflies he got in his stomach when he felt her arms around him, and her front pressed against his back.

They rode further and faster down the hill. It didn't take them long to catch up to Sakharine, Allan, and Tom. They were right behind them and they saw Sakharine turn around, glaring at their vehicle as they rode closer and closer, "Lose them!" They heard him shout, "Get him off our tail!"

Allan reached into the seat beside him and pulled out a large automatic gun and started firing on them. Juliet ducked down behind Tintin's shoulder and Snowy whimpered as he sunk down lower into the side car. Tintin, not wanting to risk getting someone hurt, slowed down the bike to put some distance between them and the bullets. Thankfully, none had hit them, but they were farther behind. The captain, more than ready to retaliate against his backstabbing crew, pulled out the rocket launcher. He looked down the barrel of the weapon, aiming it at Sakharine's speeding car. Juliet looked up at the weapon, noticing how the small spyglass for aiming was opposite the side the captain was facing.

"Captain, are you sure that's the right way to hold it?" She asked over the sound of the bike engine. He didn't answer her as he pulled the trigger and a rocket went shooting out of the weapon. Instead of going towards the intended car, however, it went behind him and crashed into something on the wall of the dam next to Ben Salaad's palace.

"Did you hit anything?" Tintin asked as he sped the bike along, keeping his eyes on the curving road. The captain looked back worriedly, seeing some kind of device (He wasn't sure what it was) start falling apart and unraveling, the pulleys yanking something up, and since it was connected to the dam, he had a good idea just what it might have been.

"Oh, dear." He tossed the rocket launcher aside, letting it tumble on the road as they kept going down. Only a moment later, they saw a huge wave of water spring out from the dam's entrance, quickly flooding its way down the ravine.

Tintin and Juliet gasped at the sight of all the rushing water. "Faster! Tintin, go faster!" Juliet urged him on. He was more than willing to do so and it wasn't long until they caught up to Sakharine, riding just behind the car. Allan pulled out a gun to fire at them, but Snowy snarled, jumping up out of the sidecar and into their car, biting at Allan's arm, making him cry out and drop the gun.

"Oh, not again!" Tom shouted as he tried to keep the car driving the right way as Snowy came jumping up into the front seat.

"What the devil?!" Sakharine held the scrolls out away from the dog, holding them out over the side of the car. Tintin sped up and swiped the three papers from his hand.

"I'll have those, thank you!" He said, and twisted the handles again, speeding up the bike.

"Come on, Snowy!" Juliet held out her arms for the little dog, who jumped out of the car and into her grasp.

"_No_!" Sakharine shouted, before yelling at the men to go faster.

A high-pitched screech reached their ears and Haddock looked up to see Sakharine's falcon was gliding above them.

"Incoming falcon at four o' clock!" Haddock warned. Tintin looked up just as the bird made to swoop down and take the scrolls from his hand. He sped the bike, making a sharp turn into the streets of Bagghar over a small, steep hill. They took some air as they jumped over the hill, passing by a fountain just as water started to burst from it, showing that the ravine was full again. But because of the huge amount of water, it had flooded some of the town, and a building with the words 'Hotel Bagghar' written on it had been disturbed from its place on the ground and was being pushed forward, but not by the water. It seemed the Sheik's guards didn't give up their chase after them just because they had left the palace grounds. Inside the entrance of the small building was a tank that was moving straight for them. Tintin revved the engine again and they jolted forward, speeding down the road as the tank crashed some vendors' stands behind them.

"Tintin, faster!" The captain urged, which was something Tintin was glad to do. The roads of Bagghar were incredibly steep and bumpy from their placement in between a set of mountains, and with the bumps the barrel of the tank was able to hook underneath the captain's jacket and unintentionally pull him out of the sidecar. They went over a sharp bump and Tintin lost his grip on the scrolls. His eyes widened as he saw them flailing about in the air.

"No, the scrolls!" He tried to reach for them, but he couldn't do that and drive the bike at the same time. Juliet and Haddock reached up into the air as they flew around.

"I got one!" Haddock shouted as he grasped one paper tightly in his hand.

"Two!" Juliet cried as she grabbed the second one.

Snowy jumped up, catching one scroll in his jaw, "And three!" Tintin shouted. There was another sharp bump and the sidecar became disconnected from the bike as the tank started to slow down, veering off to the side of a hill. Snowy whimpered as he saw his master getting farther away, unable to control which way the sidecar moved, "Snowy!" He sped after his dog as the sidecar landed in the rushing ravine, making sure to keep on his tail.

The captain screamed as the tank slowed down, holding him out over a hill and he could feel his jacket sliding off of the barrel. He let out a cry as he fell forward into a line of laundry. He managed to slip through a large, pink, frilled dress that broke his fall, but because of that he lost his grip on the scroll. It flew up into the air, and he could see the falcon trying to swipe it, but it missed and the scroll continued to flutter above him.

"Oh, no! Not again!" The captain shouted, running over to where the scroll was slowly starting to flutter down just over the ravine's edge, within his arm's reach. "Come here, my beauty!" Just as the scroll was about to touch his fingers, the falcon flew down and grabbed the scroll in its beak, flying off. The captain gasped and glared at the bird, picking up the ends of the dress and holding it up to prevent him from tripping over it as he ran after it. Behind him, he didn't see Snowy in the water, or Tintin and Juliet riding behind him. "Oh, _ten thousand_ thundering typhoons! Come here, you pilfering parakeet!"

Tintin had been so focused in trying to get Snowy to safety that he didn't see the captain in front of him, and actually ended up crashing into him, forcing him to ride on the handlebars as he sped on. The bird swooped over them, grabbing the scroll from Juliet's hand and she let out a scream when the talons scratched her hand. Tintin looked up, seeing the falcon had two of the scrolls on it. "Captain, the bird! Grab it!" He shouted. The captain looked at where the falcon was flying over the ravine, far out of his reach now.

Snowy caught up to the bird in the sidecar, slamming his paws down on its tail feathers, making it unable to get up and fly away. The bird flapped its wings futilely as it rode along in the rushing waters with the terrier. "Nice work, Snowy! Don't let him go!" Tintin shouted at the dog, who growled up at him, since he couldn't bark at him without releasing the scroll.

The captain, who wanted to make sure they caught the feathered beast, jumped up from the handle bars of the bike and dove into the ravine to try and grab it. He only succeeded in throwing Snowy and the bird out of the ravine and into the window of another building. Snowy growled as he hung onto the scroll in his mouth, while the falcon had grabbed the other end with its free talon. It screeched as it flew about the room, trying to get the dog off of him while Haddock came stumbling into the room.

"Blue blistering barnacles!" He cursed as he saw the bird flying around with Snowy, "Hang on, Snowy!" He reached for the nearest rope, seeing that it was a pulley for a weight system that went throughout the building and yanked on it. The dress got caught on a loose nail in the wooden beam next to him and it tore off as he jumped up into the air, flying forward to where the falcon was making its way out through a window, "Snowy, I'm coming!" He reached out, grabbing the dog by his hind leg and pulling him back to safety. Snowy was pulled back, but the scroll flew out of his mouth and it was fluttering in the air again. Snowy barked at it and the falcon squawked, quickly going down and snatching it up.

The bird flew down through the streets, flying over Sakharine's car.

"There he is! Stop!" He shouted at the men, getting the car to skid to a stop as the bird turned around to where Sakharine was holding out his gloved arm for it to land. "That's right. That's right. Come to daddy. Come to daddy." The bird flew closer and just before it had a chance to land on Sakharine's arm, Tintin and Juliet came bursting forward through a cloud of spices, Tintin reaching out to grab the bird by its leg.

"Gotcha!" Tintin shouted. The men were coughing as the spice entered their noses and they reached out, trying to grab the bird before Tintin managed to get the scrolls. The young man grabbed two, one from each talon but before he could grab the third, the falcon slipped from his grasp, "No!" He revved up the engine to go after the bird again and just as he sped off one of the men grabbed Juliet by her shoulders and yanked her off of the bike with a scream. Tintin looked back to see that Allan had grabbed her, "Juliet!" He was about to turn the bike around to help her when she shouted at him.

"It's getting away! Go!" He didn't like leaving her behind, but they couldn't afford to lose the last scroll. He moved the bike forward and rode after the falcon, grabbing it by its leg again.

After pulling Juliet into the car, Tom put the vehicle in reverse as Allan pulled out a gun, ready to shoot Tintin. Juliet reached up, punching him in the stomach to stop him from pulling the trigger, making him bend over, holding the spot she had hit. That didn't stop Tom and the car still moved on.

The captain, who had seen all that had happened, grabbed onto a rope from the tower and got Snowy onto his shoulder as he swung forward out of the building. "Geronimo!" He cried as he released the rope and fell onto the hood of the car just as Snowy jumped off his shoulder and into the car, snarling at Sakharine and his men.

"Captain?!" Juliet cried in surprise.

Haddock curled his hand into a tight fist and landed a hard hit to Tom's face, "You double-dealing, pilfering parasites!" He growled. The car rolled to a halt as both the captain and Juliet started to fight off their enemies, hitting them as hard as they could.

Meanwhile, Tintin still ran after the falcon, riding the motorcycle down the stairs after the bird. He lost his grip on it in the chase and the bird flew up high. Tintin revved the engine again and once he reached the bottom of the stairs he directed the wheels up a high, steep ramp that went into the building the bird had flown into. He crashed through a window, much to the surprise and distress of the women inside. They had been creating some kind of tapestry, and Tintin could see that the falcon had gotten tangled in the strings, "Excuse me! Pardon me!" He grunted as the motorcycle crashed into the other wall of the house, hearing something come undone and seeing cracks forming in the plaster of the walls, floors, and ceilings, "Sorry!" He reached out, grabbing the strings that were attached to the falcon as the building started to come undone and it fell out of its place in the construction site. The strings holding the falcon snapped as the huge piece of the building hit the ground and with a muttered curse Tintin continued going after the bird.

He rode the bike up a stone ramp, watching as other people jumped out of his way. He didn't realize the ramp ended and before he had a chance to stop the bike and find another way, he smashed through the only barrier that kept him from hitting the ground. After so much abuse in such a short amount of time, the motorcycle couldn't take any more and fell apart. Tintin still held onto the handles of the bike, which still had the front wheel attached, while everything else fell below him. The bike managed to get hooked on some wires that had been hung throughout the city, providing certain homes with electricity. He held onto the handles for dear life as he slid along the lines, high above the people and the street. He hit a wooden post and the wheel snapped off. He hit another one and the protector for the wheel was knocked off. He could see a third one coming and he knew he would lose the handles, too. When the post hit the metal bars out of his hands, he fell forward, reaching his arms out for something to land on and saw some large, teal colored lanterns that he was headed straight towards. He grabbed onto one and it started to slide, unused to having his weight on it. He looked up, seeing that the falcon was flying by him and he reached out, trying to grab it as the large lantern swung back and forth, avoiding the other lanterns and knocking them down once he had passed.

He looked up to see that the line he was riding was coming to an end and he jumped into the window of the nearest building. The falcon still glided past the windows and he ran through the building to a door that led out to a balcony, he jumped off of it, finally managing to grab the bird by its feet and bringing it down with him as he landed on his belly on a dock. He let out a grunt, but he didn't let the bird get away, struggling with it as he tried to get the scrolls from its talons. "Gotcha."

He was so focused in his task, he didn't notice Sakharine and his men coming up to the docks in their car. As Tintin tried to pull the scrolls away from the falcon, he brought the papers into the light, and he gasped, his eyes widening when he saw the markings he had seen on the first scroll were not exclusive to only that one, and they certainly weren't all the same symbols.

"The scrolls are lining up…" He muttered in awe, "These are hidden numbers." He couldn't see Sakharine storming out of the car, glaring fiercely at Tintin as he saw what he was doing. "What does it say?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Sakharine shouted, getting his attention. Tintin's eyes widened when he saw Juliet, her hands bound behind her with a long rope that attached her to his bound dog were held over the side of the docks, as well as a bound Captain Haddock, "Let the bird go." Tintin struggled with the falcon, determined not to release it as the men continued to hold his friends out over the water. Seeing that Tintin wasn't at all deterred by his threat, Sakharine spoke again, "What do you value more? Those scrolls or your friends' lives?"

"Don't listen to him!" Haddock shouted at Tintin. He turned to face Sakharine, "You'll never get away with this you sour-faced sassonack."

"I _will_ kill them." Sakharine said strongly.

Snowy let out a bark at Tintin, squirming in the tight ropes on his legs.

"Don't worry, Tintin, we'll be fine!" Juliet said, and through his struggling Tintin could see how she was trembling as she was held over the water, "Sakharine doesn't have the guts for something like this!"

Sakharine noticed her trembling when she spoke up and could see the fear in her eyes as she looked down at the water, "Let the bird go now, or this girl dies!" He pushed the end of his cane against Juliet's chest, making it look like she was about to be pushed in and she let out a shriek.

"No, wait!" Tintin shouted up at him, still hanging onto the bird. He had to get the scrolls off the bird's talons, but if he didn't give them to Sakharine, Juliet would be pushed in, and there's no doubt that she would drown if she didn't get any help.

"You miserable coward." Juliet growled up at him, determined to show she wasn't afraid even though she was about to go down in the water, "You spineless, simpering, po-faced sap."

"Ooh, nice one." Haddock complimented her insult choice.

"I can't wait to see you rotting in a prison cell you greedy son of a bitch." Sakharine's eyes narrowed at the girl and he looked over at where Tintin still struggled with his bird.

"Perhaps we should put it to the test." He stepped back, smiling smugly at Juliet and Haddock, raising his hand to give them a mocking wave, "Here's mud in your eye."

The men released Juliet and she shrieked as she fell in, Haddock screamed "Fathead!" at Sakharine before he hit the water.

"_No_!" Tintin shouted, releasing the bird as he got up, diving in after his companions. The falcon, now free of Tintin's grasp flew up onto the waiting arms of his master, holding out the three scrolls in its beak. Sakharine gladly took them and they walked away from the docks, heading to where the _Karaboudjan_ was waiting for them.

Meanwhile, Tintin swam down underneath. He could see Captain Haddock somehow making his way up to the water, but with a lot of difficulty. Tintin looked and saw Juliet was struggling greatly, her cheeks puffed out with her breath as she kicked around in the water. Tintin swam down to her first, going to her ropes and yanking on them, finding they hadn't been tied properly and they slipped off her wrists. Snowy had already slipped out and was making his way up to the surface. Tintin grabbed Juliet by her waist and swam up to the surface, where the captain had just broken through, his hands still bound behind him.

The young pair gasped as they broke through the surface and Juliet started coughing harshly, her arms on Tintin's shoulders, holding him in an iron grip. Tintin panted for breath as he swam over to the captain, reaching behind the man with one hand and pulling on the ropes, which came undone easily enough.

"Thanks, lad." The captain said.

Juliet had stopped coughing, but she still clung to Tintin, her body trembling violently. Tintin kept her close to him, moving one arm around her shoulders.

"It's alright, Juliet." He said softly, trying to soothe her, "I've got you. It's alright." She didn't say anything as she buried her head in his shoulder.

"Get me _out_ of here." She said, her voice shaking almost as bad as she was. Tintin didn't say anything more as he and the captain swam over to the docks, where some bystanders were walking around, amazed by what they had just seen happen between the foreigners.

They helped them all out of the water and onto dry land. To her credit, Juliet didn't collapse like Tintin thought she might, but since she still hung onto him, he let one arm rest around her waist as they walked away from the docks and somewhere else to dry off.

They found a restaurant with a patio and they took their refuge there. Tintin helped Juliet to sit down in one chair, watching as she took some deep breaths to try and calm herself down while he took another seat beside her on another chair, a small table bearing a large umbrella between them. As they looked out, they could see the Karaboudjan starting to sail away.

They heard a rumbling sound and looked up, seeing Hotel Bagghar come sliding through the streets, stopping just short of the docks. The tank within it however, did not. The Sheik's soldier opened up the top of the tank just as it fell into the water with a loud splash. They couldn't see Thompson and Thomson at the top of the balcony letting out deep breaths of relief now that they had stopped.

"We're saved!" Thomson cried happily.

"Oh, I love the beach." Thompson said upon seeing where they had stopped.

"You said you wanted a holiday." Thomson said, nudging his partner with his elbow.

Thompson chuckled at his partner's words, "Very good."

Haddock looked out at the horizon with an angry glare as he watched his ship sailing away.

"Nobody takes my ship!" He growled as he paced in his frustration.

"They've already taken it." Tintin said.

"Nobody takes my ship _twice_!" He snarled, he let out a sigh, "We'll show them, eh, won't we, Tintin?" He clapped his hands together, turning to his companion, "Alright, then. What's the plan?" Juliet turned to face him, curious as to what Tintin had in mind.

"There _is_ no plan." Tintin replied, a frown on his face, reaching down to pet a concerned Snowy.

Haddock laughed, "Of course there's a plan, you've always got a plan."

"Not this time." Tintin's words surprised them both as they looked over at him, "Sakharine has the scrolls. They'll lead him to the treasure. It could be anywhere in the world. We'll never see him again." He slouched back in his seat with a solemn expression, "It's over."

Juliet blinked curiously as she looked at him, "What, just like that? After how far we've come, and all we've done, it's just… over?"

"There's nothing more we can do." Tintin replied.

"I thought you were an optimist." Haddock said.

Snowy shook out the water from his white coat and Tintin stood up, wiping away some sea water that had landed on his face, "Well, you were wrong, weren't you?" He moved his hands behind his back, walking towards the captain, but not looking at him as he spoke, "I'm a realist."

Haddock scoffed, "That's just another name for a quitter."

"You can call me what you like." Tintin said evenly as he looked up at him, "Don't you get it? We failed."

The captain's cheery expression disappeared when he heard Tintin speak and he looked at him with a frown, "Failed?" He scowled at Tintin, putting his finger to Tintin's chest, "There are plenty of others willing to call you a failure. A _fool_, a _loser_. A hopeless _souse_." With each emphasized word, he poked Tintin's chest, making him take a step back towards the chair, "But don't you _ever_ say it of yourself!" He pushed Tintin down into the chair and put his hands on his knees, bending down so his eyes were level with Tintin's. "You send out the wrong signal, _that_ is what people pick up. Do you understand? You care about something, you _fight_ for it. You hit a wall, you _push_ through it. There's something you need to know about failure, Tintin." The captain pushed himself to stand and he turned around, looking at where his ship was slowly growing smaller and smaller on the horizon, "You can never let it defeat you."

Tintin thought over the captain's words, one of them sticking out to him and his eyes lit up as he heard it running through his mind. He pushed himself to stand up, looking up at the captain, "What did you just say?"

"You hit a wall, you _push_ through it!" Haddock said, more than eager to repeat that particular phrase, after having gone through failure after failure that was his go-to phrase for encouragement when he needed it. At least, when a bottle of alcohol wasn't around.

"No, no, no." Tintin started to walk around the captain, his eyes focused on the ground as he tried to think, "You said something about sending out a signal…" Juliet looked up at Tintin, seeing the gears turning in his head as he focused on that phrase about signals. He looked out at the _Karaboudjan_ as it sailed away, and his mind was struck with the memory of the radio room. Suddenly, he clapped his hands, "Of course!" He turned around with an excited smile, "Captain, I sent a radio message from the _Karaboudjan_. I know what frequency they're transmitting on!"

"How does that help us?" The captain asked, more than happy to see that Tintin had found something to help them out, even if he didn't know what it meant.

"All we have to do is send that information to Interpol. They can track the signals and figure out which way they're headed!" Tintin said excitedly.

"And here comes Interpol now." Juliet said, pointing behind Tintin where Thomson and Thompson were making their way over to him, waving their canes in the air to get his attention.

"Tintin!" They called.

Tintin smiled at the two men before turning back to his companions. "Any port they enter, we'll know at once." He said.

The captain's eyes caught something and he grinned widely, "And we can get there first!" He pointed to a lone plane resting in the waters of the docks.

Juliet smiled as she walked over to Tintin, "Glad to have you back to yourself, Tintin."

Tintin didn't say anything, only smiling at the young woman before he turned to face his two friends from Interpol.

* * *

**Ta-da! Sorry about the lateness. And I got a special little treat planned for y'all in the next chapter. ;)**


	14. The Clash of the Cranes

14

After explaining his plan to the two men, who agreed that it was "A marvelous plan, Tintin." "I agree, simply marvelous." Thomson and Thompson went off to do as Tintin had asked, using the information he had given them. They had to move to another building that had access to the materials they needed, so they gave up their hotel rooms to Tintin, Juliet and Haddock to rest there until they had tracked the signal and figured out its course. They had been told it was going to take the better part of the day, so Juliet thought it best to take a shower before they left, seeing as it might be a while before she had the chance to take it again. She had gotten Thompson's room, while Tintin and Haddock shared Thomson's. There was only one bed per room, which was fine, seeing as they weren't planning on staying the night. To pass the time as they waited for Thomson and Thompson to return, Haddock had thought it would be fun to play a few card games with Tintin. They had decided to use some bits and pieces of different things from around the room as gambling chips in order to play the 'good card games' as Haddock said. After going over the basic rules of blackjack, they started playing with Haddock as the dealer. Being in that position, Haddock had thought he would win most of the rounds, however…

"Blistering blue barnacles!" He slammed his cards down on the small nightstand he and Tintin were using for a table, "How does this keep happening?"

Tintin shrugged as he looked down at the ace, king, and queen he had been dealt. "I suppose I'm just lucky." He said, he looked up at the captain, "We could stop and play something else, if you like, before you start losing some clothing."

"Not on your Nellie." Haddock replied, he moved the deck of cards over to Tintin, "Here, you deal this time."

"Alright." Tintin reached out and started dealing the cards as Haddock wanted. He looked up when he saw the captain taking a sip from a whiskey bottle he had bought from the hotel service. He moved his head back as he drunk down the last of it. Once it was empty he shook the bottle, frowning at the lack of alcohol. Tintin almost thought he would have asked him to wait as he went to get another bottle, but instead the captain simply put it aside, focusing on the hand he was dealt. He seemed to be drinking a little less as time went on in their adventure, and he was glad for it.

Once he finished dealing, Haddock was quick to look at his cards, being careful to hide them from Tintin as he set out his own. He was about to glance at the hand he dealt himself when a knock at the door caught his attention. He turned around, "Yes?"

Juliet opened the door. Her hair was still wet from her shower. She gave him a small smile, "Tintin, could I speak with you for a moment?" She asked.

"Of course, come in." Tintin said, gesturing for her to join them.

Juliet hesitated, "…Actually, could I speak to you outside?" She asked.

"Oh… Yes." Tintin got up from his seat, leaving his cards on the table, not seeing Haddock grimace at the sight of his own hand. He watched Tintin getting up, looking over at the cards over on his side of the table. He reached over to get a little peek at them, but before his hand even touched the laminated cards, Snowy growled at him, making him pull his hand back. He scowled at the little dog, letting out a growl of his own before reaching for Tintin's cards again. Snowy let out a warning bark and Haddock jumped back from the cards. This was the scene Tintin left in the room as he closed the door behind him, standing out in the hallway with Juliet. She had dressed herself after the shower, wearing the same white shirt and trousers she had been wearing before, a small towel resting on her shoulders so as not to get the shirt wet. She gave him a small, tentative smile once the sounds of Haddock and Snowy were quieted. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, no." Juliet shook her head, "I just… um…" She took in a deep breath, "I just wanted to say… thank you."

"Thank you? For what?" Tintin asked.

"For… everything." Juliet said, "For helping me in the hall when I first moved in, for letting me be the one to take you to Marlinspike Hall, for giving me that tea, for not leaving me behind on the Karaboudjan, or making me stay at the outpost, saving me from drowning and… just… taking me on what has, without a doubt in my mind, been the greatest adventure of my life."

Tintin smiled at her, "I appreciate the thought, Juliet, but you shouldn't be thanking me. It's not over yet."

"I know, I know." Juliet said, letting out a small, nervous laugh, "But I… I wanted to show my gratitude for it while I… still had the courage."

Tintin's smile slowly fell into a confused frown, "Courage? For what?"

"To… thank you." Juliet said softly. She leaned up, pressing a soft, quick peck on his cheek. Tintin felt his face flushing as she quickly pulled back, her eyes shyly moving to the floor, her own cheeks very, very red. Tintin looked down at her, feeling his heart race and she shyly looked back up at him. "So… thank you, Tintin."

"I— uh—" He was at a loss for words, he cleared his throat, "Y-You're very welcome, Juliet."

They were still standing so close together, Tintin couldn't help it as his eyes trailed down to her lips, the ones that had just kissed his cheek, and he didn't realize Juliet was also looking at his lips. He looked back up and their eyes met. The awkwardness and nervousness was suddenly gone as he stared into her brilliant green eyes and he found himself leaning forward slowly, giving her a chance to pull away if she wanted, and pressed his lips to hers. Juliet closed her eyes and returned the kiss. Tintin gently moved his lips, hearing his heart pounding in his ears as he kissed her, this amazing girl who had come so far with him in such a short amount of time. He knew so little about her, but he found that he didn't care as her hands slowly moved up to his shoulders. He found his own hands moving down to her hips and resting there. Her kisses started becoming a little more fervent as her arms started to move up around his neck, pressing her body closer. Tintin's hands moved to wrap around her waist. He felt as if his body was on fire as he shared kisses with her. He hadn't felt like this before. Sure, there had been beautiful women he had seen on his adventures, and perhaps he had a small attraction to them, but it had never gotten far enough for him to experience the feelings he had now. He didn't know if it was because he had never been a part of such a passionate moment, or because it was Juliet he was having this moment with, but he knew didn't want it to stop any time soon.

They had to pull away for breath and Tintin found himself looking back into those beautiful emerald eyes again. They were both a little out of breath and Tintin was tempted to move back and press his lips to hers again, when they heard the loud barks of Snowy from the hotel room. The sound seemed to shatter the moment and Tintin realized that he had just snogged Juliet out in the middle of the hall of a hotel room. She realized the same thing, and their faces flushed as they moved away from each other.

She nodded towards his room, "I-I think the captain might be causing a little trouble…" She said quietly.

"Yes… It seems that way." Tintin muttered as he turned towards the door, but didn't take his eyes off of her.

Juliet stepped back, "I think I should… get back to the room. Make sure I've got everything before we leave."

Tintin nodded, "Of course, and I'll just…" He pointed to the room and Juliet nodded, knowing what he wanted to do.

"I'll see you in a bit, then." Juliet said as she started to make her way to the room just across the hall.

"Yes, see you…" Tintin said quietly, putting his hand on the doorknob, but not letting his eyes stray from Juliet, giving her a small smile. She mirrored his smile as she opened the door, stepping inside. Before she closed it, she waved at him, and he returned the gesture as the door shut.

He heard Haddock let out a yelp and he looked back at the room. Shaking his head to try and clear his mind of what had just happened between him and Juliet he opened the door to see that the captain was trying to get Snowy off of his pant leg. He went over, scolding Snowy for biting the captain like that before he sat down, planning to return to the card game. "So, where were we?" His voice cracked and he cleared his throat.

"We were just about to start." Haddock said, giving Tintin a curious look. Tintin turned his gaze to the cards, trying to focus on that rather than the memories of what had just happened. "Hit me."

Tintin took a card from the deck and laid it down in front of Haddock. He grinned as he looked at how the cards added up, "So, what did Juliet want?" He asked casually.

"She just wanted to… say thank you." Tintin replied, feeling his cheeks flush.

Haddock's grin grew wider, letting out a knowing hum, "Oh, _did_ she now?"

Hearing that sly tone in the captain's voice, Tintin looked up at him. "Yes, she wanted to say thank you for all the help we've given her." It wasn't a complete lie, but there was no way Tintin was about to admit what had just happened to Captain Haddock. He may a good man, and he trusted him, but not with _that_ kind of information.

"I see, I see…" Haddock said, that sly tone still in his voice, "Hit me again." Tintin reached for the deck and put down another card, "So… How did she thank you?"

Tintin was sure there was no way to hide his flushed cheeks now, and he knew the captain was teasing him. "She just said thank you." He kept his gaze down on his cards, reaching from the deck to get another to add to his bunch.

"Uh-huh." Haddock replied, he leaned forward a little, "So, did she use her tongue when she kissed you?"

Tintin felt his face explode in warmth from his embarrassment and he put his cards down on the table, using his other hand to cover his face, "_Captain_!"

Captain Haddock let out a loud laugh, slapping his knee, "Oh, you may be a good reporter Tintin, but you're a terrible liar! Look at your face!" He kept laughing, rocking in his seat.

Tintin sighed, dragging his hand down his face, "Yes, alright. We kissed. There."

"Aye, and a sweet pair the two of you make." The captain said, starting to calm down. He glanced down at Tintin's hand, seeing that his cards numbered up to nineteen. Haddock glanced at his own hand and saw that he numbered up to 21 exactly. "Ah-ha! At last!" He put his cards down on the stool, "I got blackja—!"

"Tintin!"

The door was suddenly pushed open and Thomson and Thompson came running into the room, holding out a slip of paper, "We got his heading and coordinates!"

"You did?!" Tintin asked excitedly, jumping out of his seat and going over to the two men, taking the paper they held out.

"Yes, it took a bit longer than we expected." Thomson said.

"But it was only a matter of time before we figured out his destination." Thompson said.

"Shall we get the plane up and going?" Thomson asked.

Tintin looked at the coordinates, seeing the port they had named and his brows furrowed, "Are you sure this is the port he's heading for?"

"Positively." Thompson said.

"Not a doubt about it." Thomson agreed.

Tintin wasn't about to argue with Interpol resources, although he was very confused about Sakharine's destination. He sighed, deciding that he would find out when they arrived and handed the paper back to the two men.

"Go and get the pilot, then. We'll meet you at the docks." He said.

* * *

The plane ride took the better part of the night, which they all spent sleeping away. When they awoke, they were only a few minutes from their destination, and the morning sun had already risen. They got to the port a day ahead of Sakharine, the location taking Juliet and Haddock by surprise, seeing as they had returned home. Thomson and Thompson left their group to round up as many policemen as they could so as to be prepared for Sakharine's arrival. Tintin tried to think of a way to trap Sakharine, a way that would easily put him in the hands of the police officers without even knowing they were there. He eventually concocted an idea, but in order to perform it, they would need help from someone Sakharine trusted, and there wasn't really anyone they knew of on land that was on the same side as Sakharine. Then Juliet remembered Sakharine's butler Nestor. At the mention of the name, Haddock started speaking, saying he was amazed the man was still living at Marlinspike Hall. As it turns out, Nestor was about twenty years older than the captain, and had started working there just as Haddock had started entering the stages of manhood in his life. He was an old friend.

This connection was something Tintin thought would help, so he called up Nestor, letting Haddock speak to him for a good while. Juliet and Tintin only heard half of their conversation, but it sounded like they were reminiscing about better days in Haddock's youth. It didn't last as long as they thought and Haddock soon handed the phone over to Tintin, who relayed his plan to trap Sakharine and asked for Nestor's help in doing so. The man said he would be more than delighted.

So, after night had fallen on the harbor, the _Karaboudjan_ made its way into the docks and anchoring there. Nestor waited outside in a luxurious car, dressed in a chauffer's uniform as Sakharine made his way off of the boat, with Tom and Allan behind him.

"What are we doing here, boss? I don't get it." Tom said, a confused whine in the undertone of his voice, "We're right back where we started!"

"You're to speak of this to no one." Sakharine said, ignoring Tom, "Keep your mouths shut."

"Don't worry, as long as we get our share." Allan said, putting a hand on Tom's shoulder to remind him to stop speaking.

"Oh, you'll get your share!" Sakharine snapped in annoyance as he made his way over to Nestor and the waiting car.

"Where are you going?" Tom asked.

"Just guard the ship." Sakharine ordered.

Allan directed Tom towards the boat as instructed, although Tom was still confused about it all, "Where's the filthy moola?" He asked, and received no answer from Allan.

"Good evening, sir." Nestor greeted him as Sakharine opened up the door of the car's backseat, "I trust you had a successful trip abroad?"

"Do I pay you to talk to me?" Sakharine snapped as he stepped into the car.

"You don't pay me at all…" Nestor muttered to himself as he reached over and shut the door. Only a moment after, the car was lifted up by cables Sakharine didn't realize were attached to the front and back wheels of the vehicle.

"What the blazes? Nestor!" Sakharine stuck his head out the window as he was slowly lifted up, looking down at the butler, "_Nestor_!"

The man simply shrugged as he watched Sakharine get pulled higher and higher by one of the dock cranes, currently being operated by Captain Haddock.

"Tom! Allan!" Sakharine called out for his lackeys, who came back out as they saw his car being lifted up higher and higher into the air, "Don't just stand there, you blithering idiots! _Do something_!"

As Captain Haddock heard Sakharine's calls for help, he couldn't help the smug grin that made its way onto his bearded face as he maneuvered the car over to the roof where Tintin, Juliet, the Thom(p)sons, and the police were waiting for it. Tintin was dressed in his signature blue sweater and khakis while Juliet had changed into a light blue dress with a white collar and sleeves that traveled down to the bend of her elbows, her skirt resting at her knees.

"Ha! Caught him like a rat in a trap." Thompson said as they watched the crane pull the car closer to them.

"Congratulations, gentlemen." Tintin said, "He's all yours."

"Yes. We also have an arrest warrant issued by both Interpol and the FBI." Thomson said.

"Your friend who got shot…" Thompson trailed off at the man's name, so Juliet supplied it to him.

"Barnaby Dawes."

"Yes. He was one of their agents. Hot on Sakharine's trail from the start." Thompson went on.

"Well, I imagine the FBI will be happy to know Dawes' killer has been caught." Juliet said.

"It still doesn't make sense." Tintin said.

"Eh?" Thomson looked at him in confusion.

"He has the key to the treasure of the _Unicorn_, which is sitting somewhere on the ocean floor." Tintin explained, "Why would he come back home?"

"I'm sure he'll have an answer for us when we ask." Juliet said, moving forward as the car was lowered down onto the roof. Sakharine was no longer in the backseat, so it was assumed that he was hiding down on the floor. Juliet, Tintin and the Thom(p)sons all moved around so they could find the man.

"Right." Thompson and Thomson went over to the backdoor and opened it up, "Sakharine?"

Sakharine appeared in the front seat, pointing a gun at all four of them. "That's _Mr._ Sakharine to you." Everyone put their hands up as they looked at the barrel of the gun. He glanced ahead of him, seeing a police officer making his way over to the front car and he turned the gun to him, "Ah-ah! Hold it!" The officer gasped, putting his hands up.

The captain, seeing all that was happening, knew that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped. His hands still rested on the controls and just before he had a chance to use the crane to lift Sakharine away from his friends, he looked up, seeing Allan's reflection in the window with a gun pointed at him. With a grunt, he jumped out of the way, yanking on one of the levers to make sure he didn't fall over entirely when Allan fired. The glass cracked as the bullet went through it, and the captain shot up, heading over to Allan and starting to wrestle him for the gun as the crane rotated.

Below, Sakharine's car was pulled with the crane and everyone jumped back to get out of its way as it was pulled forward into the wall of the building in front of it, slamming its side against it, knocking off the top. The car was dragged up the bricks as Haddock fought against Allan in the operating room. Allan landed a solid hit against the captain, knocking him out the door and flipping him over the railing. The captain let out a yelp and hung on as he turned over and Allan was about to go over and let him fall when he heard Sakharine screaming at him. "Allan! Allan, get me down!"

Not one to disappoint, Allan went to the controls, sitting down and pulling on the levers, reversing the direction of the crane so that the car went over the roof where Tintin and the others were waiting for him. "What?! Not that way!" Sakharine glared at his accomplice, "Not _that_ way, you fool! The _other_ way!"

The captain, having managed to pull himself back up onto his own two feet, moved over the railing and went back into the operations room as Allan pulled on the levers that would reverse the direction of the crane again, but also make it higher so that the car wouldn't hit the roof again. The captain came in, grabbing Allan by his shoulders and pulled the man out of the chair and over to the door, throwing him out over the railing. Allan let out a cry as he fell to the earth, saved as a car carrying large bags of flour rode by, landing in the bed of the truck.

Haddock moved back to the controls, pulling it so that it would direct the car back to the rooftop. Sakharine wasn't about to be caught so easily and he stood up in the car, looking around. He saw there was another, unmanned crane just a few feet from the rear of his car. He climbed out and jumped out, landing just in front of the door. He walked in, flipping the switch that activated the crane. "Right." He went over to the controls and moved the crane forward towards Haddock's. The captain, not about to let the man get to him so easily, pushed one of the levers forward so that the long metal neck of his crane would crash against Sakharine's, forcing it to move to the side as a loud, deep _dong_ sounded from the hit. Sakharine growled as he reached out and moved his crane so it would smash against Haddock's forcing it to the opposite side over one of the docked ships. The cable holding Sakharine's car snapped over the ship and it fell into the water. Haddock reached out with a snarl, pushing his crane back against Sakharine's. The metal neck veered to the side, smashing onto the building just beside where Tintin and the others were standing.

"Look out!" Tintin shouted as the crane came crashing down just above their heads. If they hadn't ducked, there was a good chance someone would have lost their head just then.

"We need to get to lower ground!" Juliet said as she saw Sakharine moving his crane around towards them.

"Couldn't agree more!" Tintin said, grabbing her by her wrist and running off, the police and Interpol agents following. Sakharine used the load of flour that was still on his crane and flung it into Haddock's operations room, smashing it through the windows. Thankfully, it was only flour, so it didn't do anything more than get over his coat and in his eyes. Haddock coughed as he tried to wave the white powder clouds away. He looked up, seeing the end of Sakharine's crane pointed right at him. He let out a yelp when it suddenly came through the smashed window and if he hadn't jumped to the side, it would have impaled him. He ducked down as it hit the back of the wall of the operations room. He stayed down until it had been pulled back completely, making sure he wouldn't give Sakharine the chance to slice off his head with it.

As Sakharine moved the crane back, preparing to launch it at the captain again, he drove it through a large pile of cargo that had been resting in the path that Tintin and the others were taking in order to find somewhere safer.

"Good lord!" Thompson cried when he saw it bust through the wooden crates like they were nothing. They heard sirens wailing nearby and they started to run towards the sound of it.

Sakharine, either by coincidence or by plan, smashed through the car with the crane, breaking it in half and having it spit out all of the police officers inside. Seeing this, the group turned around, making their way underneath Haddock's crane, wanting to hurry and get to safety.

With a grunt, Haddock pushed down on one the levers and watched as his crane arm went swinging towards Sakharine, breaking through the front of his operations room. At first, it seemed that he had got him and he had won, but Sakharine jumped up a moment later with a triumphant grin.

"Close, but no cigar!" He shouted, before yanking on a pair of levers and using his crane arm to swing up the large hold of cargo to slam against the bottom of the captain's operation room. The man was sent up from the hit, knocking his head against the ceiling before falling back into his chair. Because Sakharine's cargo had broken through several parts of Haddock's crane in order to swing that high, many parts broke off, just over the heads of Tintin, Juliet, Thomson, Thompson, and Snowy. They quickly moved out of the way, trying not to get hit by anything while Snowy cowered inside a fallen tire. Unknown to the others as they ran, Tom had come up, ready to shoot, but three more tires fell on top of him and trapped his arms against his sides.

The little dog heard shouting, hearing bullets going off and he looked up to see three men from the crew firing on Tintin and the others. He saw them running their way and he looked around. He saw a large crate that had been marked with a painted crab and he ran over to it, pushing against it, making it fall open and spill its contents of canned food just in time for the three men to run over it and fall to the ground. He let out a victorious bark before running over to where Tintin and the others were heading.

Up above them, Haddock and Sakharine were still fiercely going at it with their crane battle. Haddock's had taken a lot of damage, but he wasn't about to stop now. He started to have the crane rotate so that he could use the arm against Sakharine, but his opponent had already thought of the same plan, and slammed his crane arm against Haddock. The man let out a cry as the crane tipped over, unbalanced, resting on the side of a ware house. He still wouldn't stop, forcing the crane to move forward on its only two wheels, bringing his crane arm up to bang against Sakharine's. However, because of all the abuse it had gone through in the past few minutes, the metal of the crane couldn't take it, and it snapped off as Haddock managed to right it. It crashed to the ground as he kept pushing the crane forward until he slammed into Sakharine, the small bend of his crane arm being the only thing keeping Haddock from jumping into that man's operating room and strangling him.

He looked up, Sakharine glaring at him from those few feet away and Haddock scowled back.

"Red Rackham!" He growled.

"That's right. My ancestor." Sakharine confirmed his suspicions, "Just as Sir Francis was yours."

"Unfinished business." Haddock said, telling Sakharine that he knew the entire story now, about Sir Francis and Red Rackham. How the pirate had sunken with the _Unicorn_'s blasted remains to the bottom of the sea.

"Oh, I'm glad you know the truth, Haddock." Sakharine said, "Until you could remember," He pulled back on a pair of levers, "Killing you wouldn't have been this much fun!" Although the man spoke of having a good time, an angry scowl still rested on his face as his crane moved back. It started to spin around and Haddock saw that he was planning on slamming it into him again. He wanted to do the same to try and fight him off, but he realized he had nothing to fight back with. Before he could come up with a plan, Sakharine's crane crashed through the side of the operating room, the sound echoing through the docks as it knocked him down. With a loud laugh, Sakharine pulled and pushed on the levers, making the crane slam into him again.

The sound of the captain's scream reached Tintin and Juliet who slowed down, turning to see Haddock's almost destroyed crane tip over completely, landing on the deck of the _Karaboudjan_.

"Oh, no…" Juliet murmured, fearing for the sea captain.

Tintin's eyes darted around, searching for some way that he could help the captain, but it seemed there wasn't any at the moment. He grabbed Juliet's hand and started heading for the boat. "Come on, we can't let him face Sakharine alone." Juliet nodded, running with Tintin towards the boat, Snowy quickly running behind them as Sakharine lowered his crane, making something of a walkway for himself that led to the deck, only a few yards away from where Captain Haddock had landed.

The man looked up at Sakharine, glaring at him as he calmly walked towards him. He reached out, grabbing the handle of a bladed line cutter, which had fallen beside him in the crash. "Who gave you permission to board my ship?" He snarled as he pushed himself to stand.

"I don't need it." Sakharine said as he unsheathed his rapier from the cane. "I've never needed it."

Haddock ran forward to the deck where Sakharine was walking and charged at him with the line cutter. Sakharine took the stance of an experienced fencer and easily maneuvered himself around the captain, slapping a hit to his rear end for good measure. The captain turned around, seeing Sakharine take that fencing stance again. He knew he was outmatched in terms of a fencing battle, but he wasn't about to let Sakharine get away with all he's done. He charged at him again, the blades of their weapons clashing against each other. When the captain got too close for Sakharine's comfort, he stomped down on Haddock's boot, making him lose his stance for a moment and Sakharine took advantage of it, knocking him back. Again, the captain charged, and again their blades clashed. But, once he got too close, Sakharine made work of him, knocking the blade from the captain's hand and kicking him back onto his stomach.

The captain watched as the line cutter slid away out of his reach, and he slammed his hand to the deck in frustration. He wouldn't let himself lose now. He looked to see Sakharine had turned his back. Haddock assumed he must have thought the battle was over since he lost his weapon, but he wouldn't let him get away. With a cry he pushed himself up and ran towards Sakharine.

Sakharine had grabbed a net and threw it over the captain. He let out a cry as he gripped at it, trying to pull it off. Sakharine still hung onto the other end and he used the net to his advantage, pulling on it to launch Haddock over to a small pile of cargo, making him crash into it. All around the captain were whiskey bottles, and knowing his affinity for alcohol, Sakharine considered their match finished, but he wouldn't let his guard down yet. He turned his back on the captain, swishing his blade back and forth, looking out for Tintin or Juliet, certain that one of them would come to try and stop him. Suddenly, something smashed against his back, breaking apart and covering his coat in wetness. He let out a cry and turned around, raising his rapier just in time to stop another bottle from hitting him. He then did the same with a second bottle, and a third, and the fourth bottle hit his knuckles, making him drop the rapier.

He was amazed that Haddock was standing, let alone chucking whiskey bottles at him. He kept walking back on the deck as he kept throwing them at him with great ferocity. He threw another and another, until he lost his footing and Sakharine fell on his back on the deck. Haddock was down to one last bottle, and he was more than happy to use it against Sakharine. He was about to throw it down, but stopped when he saw Sakharine holding the three scrolls over the flame of a lighter.

Sakharine smiled when he saw that his ploy had worked and the captain had stopped, "The legend says only a Haddock can discover the secret of the Unicorn." He grinned, "But it took a Rackham to get the job done. So, you've lost again, Haddock." Haddock glared at the man, but he knew he was defeated. As the familiar feeling of failure started to fill him up, he glanced at the remaining whiskey bottle in his hand, "That's right. Why don't you have a drink? It's all you've got left, isn't it? Everything that was rightfully yours is now mine. Including this ship."

Suddenly, something swept out in front of Sakharine and Haddock and swiped the scrolls from his hand. He turned to see the something had been Tintin hanging onto one of the ship's ropes. He landed safely next to the searchlight, looking down at the scrolls in his hand, seeing that he had all three, and that his on-the-spot plan had been successful. Sakharine turned to where Tintin had come from and saw Juliet standing in his way, her arms crossed over her chest, smirking smugly at him. He couldn't run away now.

"Thundering typhoons." He looked up to see the captain mirroring Juliet's smirk, suddenly much closer to him than before, "Nobody takes my ship." He brought his fist up and landed a hard hit to Sakharine's face, knocking him over the side of the _Karaboudjan_ and into the waters of the dock below. With a satisfied grin, he heard Sakharine splash into the water, and as he turned, he saw a whiskey bottle resting just on the edge of the boat, it was one that he had dropped. He went over and kicked it off the ship, not knowing that it hit Sakharine in the head before landing in the water.

He chuckled, looking over at where Tintin stood. He smiled back at the captain and glanced over at Juliet as she approached her two companions wearing a happy grin of her own. Snowy walked up beside his master with a small bark. Off on the horizon, they could see the morning sun starting to break through, spreading light throughout the city.

Down below in the water, Tintin could see Thomson and Thompson pulling Sakharine out and although he couldn't hear what they were saying, he knew that they were placing him under arrest.

The captain and Juliet came up to where he was standing, all of them letting out tired sighs, glad that the entire bout with Sakharine was over. Juliet came up beside Tintin, glancing at the scrolls.

"So, Tintin," He looked up at her, "Did we ever figure out the secret of the scrolls?"

"Not quite yet." Tintin said. He looked out at the rising sun and held up the three scrolls to the light, lining them up so he could see all the markings on it as they started to form different letters and numbers. Juliet and Haddock came up on either side, watching as they were able to make out what it said. "Do you see?"

"Blistering barnacles, they're coordinates." Haddock gasped.

"To form the numbers, it took all three scrolls." Juliet breathed in awe.

"Latitude and longitude. That is it!" Haddock said, a wide grin growing on his face, "That is the location of the treasure!" He started chuckling and Tintin and Juliet did the same as the realization that they had won started to come to them. Tintin turned to the captain, holding out his hand for him to shake. Haddock looked down at the hand, and then wrapped his arm around Tintin's shoulders, pulling him in for a tight embrace. Juliet let out a happy squeal as the two of them started to bounce around in joy.

"We did it!" Tintin shouted as he and the captain separated. The captain started doing a little jig in happiness as Tintin turned to Juliet. She ran over and embraced him, and Tintin wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up and spinning her in the air, much to her delight. Her skirt flowed out around her as Tintin held her up. They were all laughing like they had gone made and Snowy was barking at them in his own happiness.

Tintin put Juliet down and looked directly into her eyes while she looked into his. She blushed when she realized she was in Tintin's arms, and he did the same. They both sobered up a little bit and separated from each other with small laughs. They were still smiling at their victory, but also at each other. Juliet let out an excited giggle and Tintin let out a small chuckle of his own.

"Oh, c'mere you two!" The captain said, bringing his arm around Tintin and Juliet's shoulders, hugging them both tightly. He pressed a kiss to Juliet's cheek, and another one to Tintin's, he was so drunk on his happiness. Juliet laughed at the captain's sudden display when he took his arms off and continued to dance around Snowy, who got up on his hind legs to join him.

"Oh, what the hell." Juliet said before she reached out and grabbed Tintin's collar, pulling him in and planting a kiss on his lips. Tintin was a little startled at first, but he put his hands at her waist and let them rest there as he returned it.

The captain saw their kiss and laughed aloud, continuing to dance with the little dog on the deck of the _Karaboudjan_.

* * *

**Ta-da! The longest chapter yet! For this story, anyway. A good ten pages. I hope it was all worth it, you guys! Next is the final chapter, and then the sequel (Which will take place in between this Tintin movie and the next one that comes out in two years). I might write a little something more if I get the chance, but no promises. I hope you liked it!**


	15. Return to Marlinspike Hall

15

After having taken a good look at the coordinates and writing them down in another place so that they wouldn't have to continue looking at the scrolls, Tintin suggested that they all retire for now in order to be well-rested for the next day, which was bound to have a great amount of treasure hunting. They would have to hire a crew in order to get a good ship that would take them out to the sea, but after looking at the coordinates, Haddock told him that it wasn't going to be necessary, and they only needed the three of them.

Tintin was a little doubtful of it, but he wouldn't press further on the subject, thinking the captain knew that he was talking about now that he was a little more sober than when they first met. Haddock gave Tintin and Juliet the address of where he would be staying for the rest of the day and in return they gave him the number to their apartment complex on Labrador Street, saying that he could call them if he needed them. They parted ways, Juliet and Tintin heading back to the apartment together. They didn't really say anything to each other, and that was fine. They were both happy about the upcoming treasure hunt, and that they managed to get out of it all alive. Sakharine was being put away with charges of murder and attempted murder, the crew of the _Karaboudjan_ was under investigation and until it was finished, the ship was to remain in the harbor with nothing to be loaded onto or off of it. All seemed to be very well.

As the apartment building started to come into view, Juliet glanced over at Tintin, "You wouldn't happen to have any more of that blooming tea, would you?"

Tintin looked over at her, "Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

Juliet shrugged, "I was just wondering if I could take some into my apartment. I think I fancy a bit of it right now."

"Well, I'd be happy to share some tea with you." Tintin said. He went up to the front door of the complex, stepping in and holding the door open for Juliet. She smiled at him as she walked in, Snowy trailing just behind her. The little terrier quickly made his way up the stairs to Tintin's apartment and he followed. When he opened the door, Tintin realized that he hadn't been inside it since his apartment was ransacked, and everything was still in disarray. "Ah…"

Juliet glanced inside and grimaced at the sight of the mess, "Oh, dear."

Tintin let out a sigh, "I suppose tea will have to wait for now."

"I'll help you out." Juliet said, stepping inside his apartment, "If we both work together, we can get it done twice as fast." Tintin nodded in agreement and the two of them started working on cleaning the place up, righting the furniture, picking up the books and pictures. Juliet took charge of sweeping up any broken pieces while Tintin made work of putting everything back in its rightful place on the shelves of in the cabinets. Even Snowy did his share, helping out by picking up different items throughout the apartment and putting them where he knew they went. If there was a place up high where something was supposed to go, he would take it over to Tintin. Juliet managed to find Tintin's radio and tuned it to a music station, to have something to fill the air while they cleaned. It certainly made the work a little more enjoyable, and Tintin would occasionally hum along with the melodies that played, and Juliet would do the same with others. After about an hour of cleaning, the apartment was looking like itself again, with just a few things strayed about here and there, and a small band of trumpets started playing on the radio and Juliet gasped.

"Oh, this song!" She exclaimed happily, "Oh, I love this song!" Tintin glanced up when she started humming the tune and started singing to it, "_Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away/ If you can use some exotic booze, there's a bar in far Bombay/ Come on and fly with me. Let's fly, let's fly away/ Come fly with me, let's float down to Peru!_" Tintin was surprised to hear her singing so well. He had only heard her singing with the captain out in the desert, and that had been absolutely awful, but now it almost seemed as if she could compete with the man on the radio. He watched her hips as they moved back and forth to the beat, smiling as he saw her dancing to the song. He put down the duster he had been using as he went over to her, taking the broom out of her hands. She was surprised by the sudden gesture, and her singing stopped as Tintin put one arm at her side and took the hand that had been holding onto the broom, and he started dancing with her. Juliet laughed and put her free hand on his shoulder, taking him up on his wordless offer and the two of them started moving around the apartment as the song kept playing behind them.

"_Weather-wise, it's such a lovely day. _

_Just say the words and we'll beat the birds down to Acapulco Bay._

_It is perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say._

_Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away!_"

They kept dancing around the apartment, Juliet letting Tintin spin her out and back into his arms as the jazzy song kept playing on the radio. It seemed Juliet's dancing wasn't quite as good as her singing, as she stepped on Tintin's feet a couple times during the more complicated dance moves, but that didn't stop him. They kept going as the song played. Snowy barked up at the two of them, jumping up on his hind legs with his front paws up high, following them through the apartment. Juliet laughed at the little terrier's antics.

"I think Snowy wants to cut in." She joked, looking up at Tintin.

"Well, he's just going to have to wait until the next song." Tintin replied as he pulled up her hand to twirl her, watching as her skirt fluttered out around her. Juliet giggled as she came back to him, placing her hand back on his shoulder.

"Ah, are you very possessive of your dancing partners, Mr. Tintin?" She asked with a teasing grin.

He shook his head, "No, I'm very possessive of my…" He trailed off, not entirely sure of what he would call their relationship. They hadn't really acknowledged any romantic feelings for each other until the previous day. When he didn't finish, Juliet looked at him curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"Tintin?"

Instead of saying something about it, Tintin heard the song reaching the end as the music became louder, reaching the finale. He pulled his hands away, making her spin out into the kitchen before pulling her back. He kept his hands on her waist as he dipped her, watching her red hair fall back over her shoulders and moving to try and touch the floor. Juliet laughed as he dipped her, pulling her back to stand as the song faded away and some advertisements come onto the air instead.

Juliet laughed as she stepped back from Tintin, "Well, that was fun." She went over to where Tintin left the broom, "I didn't think you were so spontaneous."

"Well, when you've adventured for most of your career, spontaneity is kind of necessary." Tintin replied as he went back to where the duster lay.

"True enough." Juliet agreed with a chuckle.

"I think we've gotten most of it." Tintin said, going over to take the broom from her, "Here, I'll put it away, and you can start the tea?"

"Sounds like a plan." Juliet said, going over to the stove to start heating the water as she had seen Tintin do a few days ago. It seemed strange to her to think of that day as only a few days ago, when it felt like a lifetime ago, and she told Tintin so.

"Well, adventures do take up most of one's time." He replied, reaching up into the cabinets to get the blooming tea. "Most of my adventures feel like they take years, when they really only take about a week or so."

"So, it's normal to feel like it's been much longer than that?" Juliet asked.

Tintin nodded, "I think so." He moved over to another cabinet to get out some cups, "Although, looking back on some of my adventures, I'm amazed it only took such a short time. Most men make a habit of taking long trips that last for years in search of an adventure, but I seem to find one wherever I go." Juliet laughed.

"And you don't get tired of adventuring?" She asked.

"Never." Tintin said with a smile.

After their tea, Juliet went back to her apartment and she and Tintin didn't see each other for the rest of the day. It was well enough, since they had taken over three hours for the tea, just talking about where the treasure might be and all the different theories they had for it, as well as a little about themselves. Juliet heard more about Tintin's adventures, while he heard about the stories of her family, which she thought seemed very quaint and docile compared to Tintin's stories, but he didn't care. She told him about her father, as well as her younger brother, and a few stories about her deceased mother. Once it was over, and the tea had long since grown cold, Tintin told her to rest up for the next day and she bid him goodbye.

* * *

The next morning, they met up with Captain Haddock outside the place where he was staying and they managed to get a car that would drive them to where they needed to go. At first, Tintin thought that they would be going to the docks, but Haddock insisted on going in the opposite direction. They did as he said, driving off out of the city and into the countryside. The entire time they drove, the captain had stood up in his seat, using a sextant to keep them on course.

"Almost there, Mr. Tintin!" Haddock crowed as he looked around them, "A nudge to starboard should do it."

"Are you sure we're on course?" Tintin asked, glancing up at the captain.

"Trust me, laddie." Haddock replied, looking down at Tintin with a reassuring smile, "I know these parts like the back of my hand." He looked through the sextant again and Tintin looked back at Juliet, who shrugged helplessly. Suddenly, Haddock shouted "Starboard!" He pointed to a wall of bushes, "Quickly! Quickly!"

"Aye, Captain. Starboard it is." Tintin said, making a sharp turn through the bushes. The foliage broke apart and flew over their heads as they drove onto someone's property, although it didn't look like it. It seemed the bushes were just there for no reason until they came upon a large mansion and Haddock raised up his hand.

"All stop!" He commanded, and Tintin stopped the car just outside of the mansion's entrance, which they all recognized right away. "Marlinspike Hall…" Haddock's voice was an awed whisper as he looked at the place.

"Those coordinates lead _here_?" Juliet questioned, looking up at the building, "_This_ is where Sir Francis hid the treasure?"

Tintin looked up at the captain, not noticing the door was being opened, "I thought the treasure went down with the ship?"

"Master Haddock, Mr. Tintin, Miss Ryder." Nestor formally greeted them as he stepped out, "I've been expecting you." He waved his arm as he stepped to the side, inviting them in. Haddock was the first one out of the car, eagerly going up the stairs to the front door. Tintin, Juliet and Snowy followed just behind him, thinking it wouldn't hurt to at least give the place a once-over. "Welcome to Marlinspike Hall."

"Oh, will you look at this place?" Haddock said with a grin as he looked around the foyer, "I don't think it's changed at all since I was a wee boy!"

"And may I say, sir," Nestor began, "How much I'm looking forward to having a Haddock in charge of the estate."

"You'll be waiting a long time, Mister." Haddock said as he kept looking around his childhood home, "There's no _way_ I could afford to live _here_."

"Well, Captain," Tintin said, making his way to the captain's side, "You know the house. Where do we start?"

It only took the captain a second to think about before he asked, "Is the cellar still here?"

"Of course it is." Nestor said, "Follow me." He turned and started walking through the halls and everyone followed him. As they passed through a parlor, the large Rottweiler dog that had been sleeping there glanced up and let out a loud bark. The sound of it startled Juliet and she flinched as it got up and went over to Snowy. The little terrier let out a bark in greeting and the two of them started to play. "It seems Hector remembers your little friend."

"It certainly does." Tintin replied with a smile as the two dogs started running around their group, happily playing as they headed towards the cellar.

It wasn't a long walk and once they got down the stone steps, Nestor opened up a pair of thick wooden doors. Hector and Snowy ran in, playing in the dimly lit room as everyone else stepped inside. Large stone columns held up the room, which was filled with unused furniture and supplies. Juliet could see a whine holder just at the other end of the room, with more than a few bottles resting there.

Haddock walked further into the room and he frowned as he looked at it all. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, this isn't it." He muttered. He turned to Nestor, "I meant the other cellar."

"I'm sorry, sir, there is no 'other' cellar." Nestor replied, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"I-It was bigger than this." Haddock said.

A muffled howl was heard and Tintin looked towards a pile of furniture next to the wall, "Snowy?" He called quietly, and he heard another muffled howl, "Snowy, where are you?" The terrier barked, and so did Hector, growling at the furniture pile.

Nestor went over to him and held him by the collar, "No, Hector."

Haddock, Tintin and Juliet went over to the wall, stepping around the furniture, listening to Snowy's calls for Tintin through the wall. Tintin glanced down at where a table rested, the legs were far enough apart for Snowy to fit through, and he could see some light leaking in from behind something. "Juliet, help me." He said as he started moving it all out of the way. Juliet went over, picking up a pair of chairs while the captain came and picked up a bowl full of unused silverware. They kept taking things out of their way until they revealed a hole through the bricks, one that Snowy poked his head through. It was too small for any of them to crawl through, but it was just the right size for the terrier. He barked happily when he saw that Tintin had found him.

Looking through it, Tintin could see there was more space to the cellar, and more furniture beyond the bricks. He grinned at the sight of it, "Just like you said, Captain." He looked up at the man, "You hit a wall…"

Haddock grinned at the young man, "You push through it."

"Then let's find something we can use to push." Juliet said, getting up and walking around, trying to find something that could be used for a battering ram. Tintin and Haddock joined in the search and they soon found a long, thick plank of wood. It was the best thing they found and they were sure it could break through the bricks, which had obviously been weakened over the years. They bashed through the bricks to the part of the cellar that had been cut off and the bricks crumbled away. Tintin's eyes focused on something ahead of him while Juliet and Captain Haddock's gaze focused on all the historical treasures around them.

"Is that real armor?" Juliet asked, stepping away from the battering ram, going over to where shining metal armor was put up on display on a square column, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the history before her as she knocked against it, "It must be made of solid steel! This armor must date back to the renaissance, maybe even further!"

"My grandfather must have walled it up before he lost the house." Haddock said as he looked around at all the historical relics that were lying about the cellar.

"_And then shines forth the eagle's cross._" Tintin murmured as he let go of the battering ram, leaving the full weight on Haddock, who grunted as he tried to carry it on his own and he set it down as Tintin walked forward to where a statue of a haloed monk holding a cross waited for him on the other side of the room. Haddock and Juliet followed him.

"I can see the cross, but where's the eagle?" Haddock asked, looking around at the feet of the statue, which was covered by a painting and an old globe.

"St. John the Evangelist," Tintin said, not taking his eyes off the statue, "Who was always depicted with an eagle. And he's called 'The Eagle of Patmos.' He _is_ the eagle." Haddock looked at Tintin, then back at the statue. He turned his attention to the globe at the statue's feet, while Juliet and Tintin kept looking at the statue for any sign. "What's he trying to tell us…? I'm at a loss."

The captain let out a small chuckle, "That island, the one in the middle, that doesn't exist." He said, pointing to a small island off the coast of North America on the globe.

"How can you tell?" Juliet asked.

"Because I've sailed those waters countless times. I've been there." Haddock said, "It's a mistake."

Tintin looked at the globe, and something clicked in his mind and he turned to the captain, "What if it isn't?" Haddock looked up at Tintin curiously, and he continued, "Sir Francis wanted his inheritance to go to a man who was worthy of it." A smile started to grow on the young man's face, "A man like himself, who knew the seas like the back of his hand. A man who could look at a globe and tell if one tiny island was out of place." Haddock looked up at Tintin, then down at the island. He brought his finger up and pressed down on it, finding that the island was actually a button and once it was pressed, the top of the globe popped off, bringing up a cloud of dust into their faces. Snowy barked at the globe in his surprise, but didn't do anything more as the three of them looked back into the globe, their eyes wide as the saw the light from the cellar windows reflecting off of the glittering, golden doubloons and jewels inside.

"Blistering treasure…" Haddock murmured as Tintin reached inside and ran his fingers through a small pile of gold doubloons, "It's Red Rackham's _barnacles_."

Wide smiles were planted on their faces as they looked at the treasure, finding that their adventure had been a complete success. Juliet couldn't help the small excited squeal that slipped out of her, and Tintin chuckled.

"What's this?" Haddock reached into the globe, grabbing something around the treasure and pulling it up. The treasure was being held in what, at first, appeared to be a large, open cloth bag. As he brought it up, he showed everyone that it was a hat, filled to the brim with the treasure. He let out an excited chuckle at the sight of it all. He looked around and found a silver bowl resting on a chair just next to him and he carefully poured the contents into it.

Meanwhile, something had caught Tintin's eye and he peeked into the globe, seeing something that had been hidden under the hat and he reached in for it, trying to be careful not to rip it.

Once the hat was emptied of its treasure, Haddock flipped it over and put it on top his head, taking in a deep breath as his fists rested on his hips. His memories of his ancestor came to his mind, and he was certain that this was the hat of Sir Francis. It felt as though he was a little closer to the great hero he aspired to be, if only in spirit, by bearing his hat. Juliet smiled at the captain just as Tintin managed to pull something out from the bottom of the globe.

"It suits you, Captain." She complimented him.

The captain grinned at her, and his grin grew wider when he saw Nestor coming in with champagne in three glasses, ready to be served to all of them. He chuckled and reached for the glasses. He looked over at Tintin, and smiled, "Just a wee tipple." He assured, telling Tintin that his drunkenness wasn't going to be very severe. Tintin cleared his throat as a small reminder about the alcohol, but said nothing more about it. He handed a glass to Tintin and a second glass to Juliet. They both took them and Juliet took a small sip of the drink, but didn't take any more after that, while Tintin let the glass rest in his hand. "A toast," Haddock proposed, "To our good fortune." He raised up his glass before gulping down the liquid inside it. Once it was gone, he let out a sigh of relief, "That's better." He turned to Tintin, "It's odd, really. You would've thought after all the fuss and bother, there would've been more…" He reached for Tintin's glass and took another gulp from that before doing the same to Juliet's glass.

"More of what?" She asked as he took her glass.

"Red Rackham's treasure." Haddock specified as he put the empty glasses down on the tray they had been brought in with. "I mean, by your account, he looted half of South America, I just thought…" He waved it off, "Ah, never mind. There's plenty to go around." He chuckled as he put his hand on Tintin's shoulder and the two of them started to make their way out of the cellar, with Juliet following alongside them. "It's a funny life, huh?"

"Mm-hmm." Tintin nodded his head.

"Well, Sakharine's been put away for a long time," Haddock glanced at Juliet when he said this, "And you've got your story for your newspaper." He looked down at Tintin, "All's well that ends well."

"It's not ended." Tintin said.

His words caught the attention of both companions and they stopped as Tintin pulled out the slip of paper that he had found, "Sir Francis left another clue at the bottom of the globe."

"A clue to what?" Haddock asked.

"Four-hundred weight of gold. Just lying at the bottom of the sea." Haddock let out a quiet gasp, as did Juliet. Tintin smiled at Haddock, "How's your thirst for adventure, Captain?"

"Unquenchable, Tintin." Haddock replied with a smile of his own.

"Don't think you're leaving me behind on this." Juliet said, nudging Tintin with her elbow.

He chuckled and put his arm around her waist, bringing her closer to his side, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Tintin held up the slip of paper to the light where they could all get a better look, and Snowy let out an excited bark.

"That's right, Snowy." Tintin said, "This adventure isn't over yet."

* * *

**Don't think the story ends here! There's an epilogue, and then I'll do my best to follow up on a sequel. Hope you all enjoy!**


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